Pawns Can Feel Too
by Ensign Klutz
Summary: A mission apprehending a criminal named Manipulus goes wrong and the team lose Robin and Artemis. Two weeks and no news about their whereabouts until a STAR Labs reports a brake in the Young Justice team come face to face with their non-Metahuman friends
1. Chapter 1

**Pawns Can Feel Too**

**Chinese Fairy:** Well, someone who reviewed my other "Young Justice", named CG07 said they looked forward to more stories from me and I thought now would be a good time to deliver! This will most likely be a two shot and possibly a small drabble for closure.

I'm still not sure, but you all will know as I go along.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Young Justice" it belongs to Warner Bros. and D.C Comics. As per last story, nothing has changed and I do not now magically own the rights.

**Warnings:** Action scenes, slight swearing, and some blood. Nothing too crazy!

Onto the story and I hope you all enjoy it!

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

**Pawns Can Feel Too**

**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**

An exasperated sigh escaped Wally West as he was slumped upside down on the couch right next to Conner, also known as Superboy, while the said clone was watching a commercial about synthetic lawns.

His legs kicked air as his calves were propped against the headrest portion of the couch. "Supes, why are you watching an infomercial about fake grass?" the speedster asked still watching the monotone salesperson showing the difference between their grass and crabgrass. The said Metahuman shrugged and replied, "There's nothing else on and you grounded me from video games." Superboy commented.

Another dramatic sigh escaped Kid Flash and he finally sat upright, "I told you not to hold the control too tightly! You crushed it like crackers! Until Rob brings the replacement control, you're grounded!" Wally jumped out of his seat and cried, "I'm so bored! Batman hasn't been around the last week and Black Canary has been too busy helping Green Arrow out in Star City to come and train us…" he slumped to the floor in a dramatic heap and mumbled, "Not to mention Robin and Artemis haven't been here either."

Conner heard the last part and asked while changing to channel to a cooking show, "I thought you didn't care about Artemis that much…" he hid a smirk as Wally shot his head up with a loud "WHAT?" with his body improperly balanced he fell ungracefully to the floor.

Still on the floor, the Fastest Boy Alive blanched at the implication and replied quickly, "A-Are you kidding me? Of COURSE I don't care about her! I-It's just that… Megan has been doing that long distance meditating-thing with Martian Manhunter and Aqualad just returned from a visit with Aquaman. There's nothing to do!"

He roughly threw himself back onto the couch and did not even notice the small ripple in the shadows.

"Well then you're gonna love what Batman has planned for us all!" Kid Flash jumped out of his seat and whipped around to see Robin standing there at the door to the kitchen with Aqualad. Everyone else besides Wally broke out laughing at the expression on the speedster's face; his face resembled a shocked cat that was doused with water.

"You're back, Robin!" he ran over to the Boy Wonder and enveloped him in a bone-crushing hug. Robin chuckled and returned the hug.

Superboy turned off the television and moved to greet the youngest hero as well. "I take it Batman has got a mission for us?" he asked with hope in his eyes. Robin nodded and pulled away from Wally's hug. "Yeah, he's in the briefing room waiting for us." Aqualad lead the way down a few hallways and soon the four male teens found themselves in the meeting room with Artemis, Batman, and Megan waiting for them.

Artemis was smirking as she spoke, "So, KF, I hear you missed me and the Birdie. Is that true?" he paled and stuttered out, "O-Of course not! You're crazy!"

Batman typed into the keyboard a command and soon a pixilated picture appeared on the translucent screen; this silenced and side conversations. "Three hours ago an unknown criminal sent the Justice League an encoded message that he will be striking the S.T.A.R Labs facility in New York City. He said he will be there at 11 p.m tonight and he is expecting a fight."

His gloved index finger hit enter and a video began playing, the pixilated figure began moving and speaking, _"Good evening members of the Justice League, my name is Manipulus and I wanted to take this chance to inform you of my plans to break into the S.T.A.R Labs facility in New York in order to obtain an object known as the Mind Link. Think me insane if you will, but I believe a fair playing field will make it all the sweeter for me when I defeat you all. I look forward to the heroes that appear to apprehend me. Have a good night."_

The message ended and the link was deleted. Kid Flash spoke first with a grin and another comment for the bad guy. "Where did he get the name? It's like 'manipulate' with an attempt at making it fancy."

Robin grinned as well when he answered, "Manipulus is the Latin root of manipulate, nice try though." Wally stared at his friend; "Do you read a dictionary in your spare time?"

Batman ignored the light banter and continued, "I copied the file and was able to save it, since the person who sent it encrypted a virus that deleted the message after it played." Stated Batman as he opened up another window that projected an image of the imposing S.T.A.R Labs building in New York City. It stood at 25 floors and reflective mirrors posed as windows; nobody could see in, but S.T.A.R Labs could see out.

Kid Flash piped in, "Have any of the Justice League members ever come across this Manipulus-whatever guy before?" Batman shook his head and clarified, "No, from what records show, there has never been a Manipulus; this is a new criminal."

"This S.T.A.R Labs in New York did posses the weapon known as the Mind Link, but it was lost in an explosion from an extremist group seven months back. That information was not released to the public, so Manipulus is already at a disadvantage." Commented Robin who was leaning against the crystal island in front of the large super computer.

Batman agreed, "This particular building specializes in research and technology, but to the publics eyes only. It was shut down seven months ago via the explosion." He then turned his attention to the screen once again, "Your mission is to apprehend the criminal Manipulus and the bring him to Metropolis where Superman will be waiting to bring him into custody."

Superboy fidgeted at the mention of his nonexistent father and Wally rolled his eyes. _Of course we will NEVER be allowed to bring an enemy into custody due to the fact that we are a covert team, but this is RIDICULOUS! _He complained in his mind, but on some level, Kid Flash understood why they would not publicly turn in a criminal to the authorities.

The conversation with his uncle Flash still echoing in his mind.

_The two speedsters were "jogging" through Central City with no real destination in mind, so they were zipping through the streets when something caught the teenager's eyes. He abruptly stopped and walked over to an electronics store where a T.V on sale was reporting Batman handing an injured Harold Cummings to the Gotham City police with handcuffs restraining the criminal._

_A frown crossed his lips as Kid Flash spoke with a defiant tone without turning to face his mentor. "Superboy was the one who took him down and saved Robin; it was our mission and our job, but a Justice League member always comes in to take the credit for our work!" he was aggravated at his mentor and the rest of the Justice League who treated his team like… SIDEKICKS!_

_Barry Allen, not the Flash, answered his nephew's demands. "I worry about you sometimes," Wally stared at his uncle for a moment; clearly confused at the random statement. The Flash laughed and ignored the confused stares from a few citizens. _

_"Can you run that by me again?" the youngest member of the Flash family asked. Barry nodded and reiterated, "I worry about you sometimes; Green Arrow worries about Artemis and Red Arrow; Aquaman is concerned for Kaldur's well being; J'onn and Batman don't show it, but they worry about Robin and M'gann. We all worry about our protégés and if we will ever see you again. I'm not sure about everyone else, but I get scared for you whenever you are on a mission._

"_If any of our enemies find out that you are all working together, what will stop them from using you to get to all of us?" that mere sentence sent a jolt of pain through the young speedster._

_A mental image of his uncle Barry holding his dead form flickered in his mind and his body released an uncontrolled shiver. The Flash smiled a sad smile and nodded, "That feeling is amplified a hundred fold when any of you are in danger. Now you know why we of the Justice League want all of you in covert missions; not for our egos, not to torment you, but to ensure none of us get hurt."_

_The Flash ruffled Kid Flash's hair and his smiled brightened. "Now, if anyone asks, we never had this conversation." Wally nodded and the two took off again racing with the destination of home in their minds._

Kid Flash smiled at the memory and any bitter feeling vanished like a split second thought. Megan quickly glanced at her friend at the sudden change of his feelings and shared a secret smile with herself; he understood now.

"There are several anomalies unaccounted for, but Superman believes you can handle it." Conner's piercing blue eyes shot up to those unreadable eyes hidden underneath the cowl; utterly shocked. _He believes in us…? Does that mean me as well?_ Thought Superboy as his mind raced for that sliver of hope that Clark Kent really did have a feeling even in its smallest measure of caring for him.

Robin saw the display of raw feelings and placed a lithe hand on his friend's shoulder. The clone's gaze drifted to the Boy Wonder and a smile crossed his lips. _He does care in his own way; give him time._

Batman noticed the change in Kid Flash, Robin, and Superboy and he had a moment of peace. A second later, it passed and his expression returned to indifferent. "You have your mission; get a move on to the docking bay." The team made their way to where the Bio-Ship was stored and none of them looked back; this was their time.

**_YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ_**

The member of the Young Justice team were excited and anxious to get to their first mission in what seems like an eternity, even Megan was smiling as she sped up her ship by riding wind currents. Sooner than later, the Bio-Ship landed on a roof across the street to the large abandoned S.T.A.R. Labs and all stood standing in the shadows of a nameless five-story building.

Aqualad scanned the area with his light green-blue eyes before speaking, "We have fifteen minutes before Manipulus is going to show up. Let's start with a perimeter." His gazed shifted to Megan, "Megan, can you reach the roof top and connect us all?" she nodded, "You can tell us when our guest arrives." He then turned to Artemis, "You go with her and offer a defense." The said archer nodded in understanding and turned to Megan, "Can I steal a ride from you?" she asked; the Martian beamed at her and hugged her close. Without another word, she flew off over the lighted street and into the moonless night with Artemis holding on tight.

He turned to Kid Flash and Superboy, "You guys will work your way into the east side, according to Batman's information there is a maintenance entrance there where you can get in. It would be better if we apprehend them in the building and away from citizen casualties." They nodded and jumped into the alley on the left; Kid Flash began running fast in place and wind began swirling around him, giving him a softer landing. With a smooth landing, Wally sped off towards the right side of the building.

Superboy turned to the last two with a winning grin before jumping over the side and the darkness of the alley swallowed him whole.

Robin was silently chuckling when a tremor rippled through the ground when Conner landed. Aqualad shook his head, "Superman is going to wonder about the large crater…" he ignored that thought momentarily and turned to the Boy Wonder, "We are going to enter through the northwest entrance. That is where the scientists used to enter. There should be a place you can hack into and get us in."

The Boy Wonder nodded and with a wave of his right hand, he turned on his compact computer on his left wrist and grinned, "For a place that has been abandoned for seven months, it is still receiving power." Kaldur nodded and asked, "All the information we have points to it being discontinued, but this new information is making me wonder."

Robin pulled out his grappling gun and fired; it latched onto the seventeenth floor wall and he flew off into the night leaving his laughter in his wake. Aqualad smiled and jumped off the five-story building using his channeling weapon as a whip to latch onto a light pole to give himself a better landing then Superboy.

Their mission has begun.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Hacking into the security panel was easy and entering the building without tripping an alarm was easier. Robin and Aqualad made their way deeper into the building where they found several cubicles with desks and humming computers. When they ran up the emergency stairs to the third floor, Robin's pink lips were forming a frown. Thought lines creased his forehead as he turned to face Kaldur. "Our records indicate that this branch of S.T.A.R Labs was shut down seven months ago and to the public it has continued function; even without the scientists. What the Hell?" asked the bird.

The Atlantean nodded and continued on the conversation, "The records in S.T.A.R Labs even shows it has been discontinued… So, even the company doesn't even know it is still running?"

Robin paused his walking and offered a hypothesis. "Could it be that all the information is correct?" Aqualad shot him a confused look so he clarified.

"According to Justice League records, this place has been abandoned; to the whole company of S.T.A.R Labs, it has also been closed off. To the public, it is still running and no one has batted an eye to the facts." He paused and his domino mask covered eyes looked up to Kaldur's bright eyes; even in the dimly lit floor, they still shimmered.

"What if another company, a third party, came forward and took over the building? Another group who has research and technology that needs to be tested and away from everyone else's eyes…" his voice faded and Aqualad finished the theory.

"Cadmus." The Boy Wonder nodded, "Yes, their research can be geared towards the Genomorphs and what kind of weapon was S.T.A.R Labs was working on via technology?" Aqualad whispered, "The Mind Link," and entered their group's mental "chat room".

_"Everyone, this mission needs to be reevaluated; new information has appeared and it will need the attention of Batman. Regroup on the fifteenth floor in five minutes." _he ordered, but Megan's voice stopped everyone from moving. _"A van with no license or tags just drove up to the maintenance entrance and six men in black are entering the building."_

She was silent for another moment and on the first story, Conner was cracking his knuckles while Wally's right leg was twitching; he needed to move soon, the suspense was killing him. _"Three move vans just rounded the corner on the northwest portion of the building. They are coming in as well!"_

Aqualad had a split second to make a decision and he took it. _"The plan is still to regroup and take them down. We'll worry about the theory later," _he sensed Robin silently agreed and the team broke off mental communication.

Superboy and Kid flash were the first one who made it to the designated floor with Artemis running towards them; Miss. Martian was flying closely behind her. Aqualad and Robin were last and the said Boy Wonder opened his portable computer and its dim blue screen illuminated the area.

"I hacked into the security system and was able to get a visual on the groups. All together, there are 24 men roaming on the first three floors. I would suggest cutting the power, but it may alarm the wrong people," he glanced at Aqualad who nodded in response. Artemis wanted to ask exactly who, but held the question in; now was not the time.

"So, we will have to take them out starting from the third floor and moving our way down-" Aqualad was speaking when a red light started flickering on the Boy Wonder's device, cutting him off. "Manipulus just entered the basement level, he's going for the Mind Link!" cried Robin; on instinct, he began sprinting down the stairs with Artemis following him. The protégé of Batman used Megan's ability to open a link with Aqualad, _"We'll stop Manipulus. He can't let him leave with the device!"_

Kaldur nodded, physically and mentally, _"I'll fill in the others while we start taking down the other enemies. We'll come back you up soon!" _With that said, the other four members quickly ran down to the other staircase on the opposite side of the building and made their way to where things were going to become very interesting.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Artemis and Robin slipped past the thugs working with Manipulus and once they reached the first floor, the Boy Wonder hacked into the elevator and granted them access to the basement levels.

While they waited to reach the second basement floor, he asked his teammate, "Why did you decide to come with me?" she glanced at him and seemed to be inspecting him, a moment later, the archer replied, "While the others are good at taking down enemies with their Metahuman abilities, we both have more training in weapons and stealth. We'd make a good team on this one."

They were both now grinning and the elevator doors opened allowing the two heroes entrance to the vault floor of S.T.A.R Labs, building taken over by Cadmus.

The two silently made their way through the floor while hugging the shadows and avoiding any meeting with an occasional goon. They switched off taking down each enemy. One round was Robin throwing knock out gas pellets to an enemy or Artemis would shot an arrow that had a small balloon tip that upon impact would burst and release a knock out gas similar to Robin's weapons.

The hallway lead them to a vault door which was slightly ajar and with their weapons at the ready, Robin pulled the door open even more and Artemis pointed her already cocked arrow to a back the was huddled over a metal table.

Manipulus did not move from his position when he began speaking, but the Boy Wonder and the archer move cautiously closer.

"I have been searching for a weapon that could grant me the ultimate control over others most of my adult life. I used hypnosis, drugs, technology and nothing ever worked properly." Some metal on the table clinked together, but other than that, Manipulus continued speaking, "I wanted to show my mother that I could move people the way she wanted me to, but she died thirteen months ago from a heart valve failing her. SHE NEVER SAW ME BECOME A GREAT MAN!"

The sudden rise in his voice startled Artemis, who almost shot him on impulse, but one look from Robin made her reconsider her illogical move. The man garbed in a cloud gray trench coat leisurely turned to the heroes with a gun pointed at the heroine.

Before Robin or Artemis could respond, he shot her and just as quickly, Manipulus shot Robin as well. They both fell to the floor with their back to Manipulus's face. He stared down at them for a moment before pulling out a walkie-talkie, "I've got them, get three guys down here and push back the other heroes to the third floor."

He cut off communication and nudged Robin onto his backside so he could relish in the tranquilizer dart pointing out of his chest, centimeters above his heart.

**_YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ_**

M'gann M'orzz just finished using her telekinetic powers to throw a man with a ski mask covering his face into the wall when a jolt of panic stuck her form. It was so violent that she fell to her knees. Superboy saw this and another enemy moving towards Megan to hurt her and he quickly intercepted the thug and punched him into a wall, creating a small crater where a back impacted the wall.

Kid Flash was by her side in a second and gently helped her up, "Megan, what's wrong?" he asked. Kaldur receded the water in his channeling weapon back into his pack and his eyes scanned around the third floor; the enemy soldiers have been defeated.

Aqualad had a frown marring his face as he saw eighteen men littering the floor. _"These guys made an effort to keep us on the third floor, almost like something has happened to-"_ his thought cut off abruptly as he saw Megan holding onto Wally like a panicked parent holding onto a police officer who just told her she lost her child.

Fear, panic, horror, and shock rippled in her eyes like a nightmare was plaguing her mind. Aqualad moved closer to her and tried to mentally connect with her; she didn't grant him access. _She's keeping us out…_

Kid Flash held her close and rubbed soothing circles in her back. S_he is flipping out and judging by Kaldur's face, she is not letting him into her mind. _The Fastest Boy alive tried again out loud to get Megan's attention, "Megan, look at me," he ordered in a serious tone which no one on the team has ever heard.

It proved true when the Martian slowly turned to meet his gaze. Wally offered her an encouraging smile. "Good, good, Megan," he said in a softer tone. "Now, you need to tell us what is wrong," he offered and after a moment she finally spoke. "I… I lost track of Robin and Artemis…"

Aqualad was perplexed and asked, "You don't sense them? What does that mean?" She removed her face from the nook of Wally's neck and whispered, "They are either unconscious or…" her voice faded and the last word hovered above them like a stormy cloud, _"dead"._

Without waiting for another second to pass, Conner raced down the stairs to the first floor and nearly crashed into the elevator doors. He forced his fingers into the fine line that signified the metal doors were closed and ripped them open. Superboy jumped and landed on the elevator that was paused at the second floor. It trembled under his landing, but he ignored it and opened the emergency hatch to slip into the elevator and punched the doors open.

He raced down the linear hallway and soon found the vault door, which was sealed shut. Panic raced through his veins and acted as a similar chemical to adrenaline and he ripped the twelve-inch thick metal door from its hinges and threw it over his shoulder.

Aqualad used his instincts to duck when the large door flew over Conner's shoulder. Once he recovered he followed the clone of Superman into the vault room just like he followed him down the rushed path of destruction from a minute ago.

Superboy stared into the into the empty room that showed only a security box was removed from the wall on the right and the container was left on the metal table placed in the middle of the room.

Artemis and Robin were nowhere to be found.

Kid Flash ran down the hallway with Megan on his back wishing that Superboy and Aqualad found them unconscious. _"Please_ _find them unconscious… not dead, if you find them dead-" _he forced his mind to cut off at that point and made himself speed up. When he reached the same entrance to the vault, his heart grew heavy as he caught sight of Conner and Kaldur walking out of the protected room with no Boy Wonder or Artemis.

Megan's hold on his shoulder increased as she felt the raw emotions rolling off the Atlantean and the clone. _Anger, fear, resentment, guilt, remorse, and… _"I've never felt such hatred before…" she murmured; Wally continued running and tried to pretend he didn't hear Miss. Martian's words.

He reached them at the end of the hallway and jumped over the abandoned vault door and didn't even need to ask if they found their friends.

"What are we going to tell Batman?" he asked quietly; Superboy was glaring at the wall; Megan had her eyes closed, trying to block out the mental pain; and Kaldur's eyes mirrored a void of nothingness. "We tell him we failed to save two of our teammates."

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

The flight to Mount Justice was a reenactment of the incident where Superboy was keeping Robin an injured bird alive. It was awkwardly silent, and the atmosphere was allowing dark clouds into the cockpit. Megan maintained a speed that made her Bio-Ship rumble in protest, but she knew it would hold.

A connection to Mount Justice opened and Kid Flash answered Red Tornado's hail. "Red Tornado, this is Kid Flash, we are returning to the base. E.T.A is seven minutes." He said in a monotone voice. The said guardian took a paused moment that could have been construed as a shocked reaction to Kid Flash's action devoid of emotion, but he is an android. _I have no emotions_, he told himself.

"Batman is here waiting for your return and scanners in the Bio-Ship indicate Robin and Artemis are missing." Aqualad spoke up with a hoarse voice.

"We'll update you on the situation when we return." Was all he said; it was all he could manage.

In the distance, Mount Justice seemed more intimidating then welcoming.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

When the Bio-Ship evacuated the four Young Justice teammates, they saw Batman, Superman, The Flash, and Red Tornado waiting for them.

Aqualad lead the other three heroes towards them with a look of attempted indifference, but Megan sensed he was far from leadership calm. She was still nestled on Wally's back, not because she wanted to, but because she was still mentally exhausted. The three male heroes stopped in front of their fellow heroes with the fate of Artemis and Robin clear on their faces.

Before the Dark Knight or the Man of Steel could speak, Aqualad spoke, "Manipulus knew that S.T.A.R Labs was still functioning and that is why he attacked. He knew a third party was still running it. Robin theorized it may have been Cadmus and our information made more questions and gave us less answers. The group hit at the designated time and Robin and Artemis had more experience in stealth that the rest of us. They went after Manipulus and he…"

His throat was constricting which in turn made breathing and speaking hard. He took a moment to swallow the lump in his throat and continued, "He- Manipulus took them; we are not sure if they are alive or…" he couldn't bring himself to even utter that option. It was too painful.

Silence enveloped the bay and no one moved. It seemed like the air turned itself into a solid and allowed no one to do anything. Moments seemed to turn into hours until finally, Batman spoke.

"Until we can confirm Robin's theory of the possibility of Cadmus running the abandoned S.T.A.R Labs and more information pertaining to Robin and Artemis's situation, you all are suspended from missions and are isolated to the mountain until further notice."

None of the teens bothered to argue the order and none of the Justice League members spoke as the teens walked around them and deeper into the mountain.

The deep black cape of Batman flourished open as he walked in the opposite direction of the Young Justice team, away from the other heroes; Superman was the brave one to follow.

Down the dark corridor Superman was still able to see the back of his best friend and he called out, "Bruce, where are you going?" he asked with sympathy in his voice. This made the Dark Knight stopped dead in his tracks and growled over his shoulder, "To hunt down the son of a bitch who took my son."

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Darkness, darkness surrounded both of them. No matter how much Robin searched the walls for a weakness or how long Artemis waited for her eyes to adjust to the pitch-black abyss they found themselves in, nothing changed. He glared into the nothingness; his utility belt was gone as was his portable computer. Artemis also woke without her bows and arrows and any other gadgets she may have had hidden on her person.

The archer felt around for the cot pushed against a wall and sat down. "I want to pretend nothing will happen to us, but lying would not do us any good, huh Birdie?"

He smiled despite the danger and replied, "We both know what is coming and all we can do is try and beat the device at its own mental game."

Their conversation was cut off by a voice over speakers perched somewhere near the ceiling. _"I would not put much faith in either of you beating the Mind Link, but delude yourselves all you want."_ The voice went silent and a panel on the wall slid open to reveal a man with four more behind him.

It was Manipulus and his features were finally seen. His green eyes glimmered madness and his short sleek hair did not offer any good point in his favor. His lips offered a polite smile that gave nothing but unease to the heroes.

"What do you want with us?" asked Robin, he knew there was no real answer in asking, but maybe this action could give some insight to his state of mind. Manipulus's smile grew as he walked closer to Batman's protégé. "You know I kidnapped you; you know I have the Mind Link device, and you know that I want to show the world I have ultimate control." His gaze turned to Artemis.

"Have you ever wanted to have super powers like the rest of your team?"

The question took them both off guard, but neither responded. Manipulus didn't seem to mind since he continued after a moment, "Aqualad has his inhuman strength and his power over water. Kid Flash has super speed that almost matches The Flash. Miss. Martian has an array of abilities: from flight, to telekinesis, and she is a telepath. Lastly, Superboy has almost all of the powers of Superman.

"You are the only two non-Metahumans of your team. Wouldn't you like to have abilities like them?" Artemis scoffed at his question, "Are you kidding me?"

She stood from her spot on the portable bed. "I am an archer under the tutelage of the Green Arrow. My archery is on par with him and Red Arrow. I don't need powers."

Robin nodded and spoke up, "I have been the partner of the Dark Knight who had made me ready for anything and everything. What makes you think we need powers?"

Manipulus started chuckling lightly before he offered, "Because I caught you both without breaking a sweat. You both lacked the defense similar to Kid Flash who could've dodged the dart, or Superboy and Aqualad's gifts to deflect the dart or endure the serum."

They both inwardly flinched at the bitter truth that was given to them. "Did you know that an average human only uses ten percent of their brain?" silence replied to him, so he carried on. "Metahumans, it seems use more of their brain. I can use the Mind Link to open up the barriers that hold you back and allow you to be greater heroes than you are now."

Now it was Robin's turn to chuckle. "The Mind Link doesn't do that and we all know it. Stop B.S-ing us." He summed up a glare that almost matched Batman's, but Manipulus did not seemed fazed.

"Ah, I hoped my incentive would be enough to earn your trust, but apparently not." He stepped towards the door and the four large men entered the room. Artemis and Robin stood up ready to defend themselves, but were quickly neutralized and confined to holds that kept them pinned to the cold cement ground.

"Relish in the last moments of your own free thinking and feeling, because as of right now, you both will show the Justice League my power of control over you both."

Sharp pinches informed the heroine and Boy Wonder that something was being injected into their arms. Their eyelids grew heavy and the last thing they saw were two white gurneys appearing to take them away to somewhere unknown.

"Batman…" whispered Robin before his world faded away.

**_YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ_**

**Chinese Fairy:** Yeah, this may just turn into a multichapter… I'm not sure, but who knows. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this new story and I will update as soon as possible. I have Spring Break right now so you all may be in luck.

Please excuse any errors since this is unedited and unbeta'd. See you all next time~!


	2. Chapter 2

**Pawns Can Feel Too**

**Chapter 2**

** Chinese Fairy:** … Holy crow! I cannot believe that how many reviews I got from the last chapter… I can die happy now… Not really, but you all know what I mean. Well, I was shooting for this story to be a two shot, but I'm not sure if that is going to happen. Maybe a few chapters and I'll call a day.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Young Justice" it belongs to Warner Bros. and D.C Comics. As per last story, nothing has changed and I do not now magically own the rights.

**Warnings:** Action scenes, slight swearing, and some blood. Nothing too crazy!

As usual, I hope you all like this chapter as much as the first one!

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

**Pawns Can Feel Too**

**Chapter 2**

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Artemis felt a prickling sensation on her eyelids, which irritated her and made her open her blue eyes. Immediately, she screwed them shut as bright lights overhead blinded her. She attempted to turn over onto her side, but froze as she realized her limbs were restrained. Her wrists were belted to the cold metal table she was lying on and more restraints were felt confining her ankles.

"Shit," she murmured. Struggling even more, her body began to ache from all her futile movements. Her breathing increased and tears formed in her eyes. _"What happened? What happened last?" _ Artemis's mind yelled at her.

Forcing herself to calm down, the archer took slow deep breaths before her mind answered her own question. _"That jerk Manipulus had his goons jump us and…"_ she glared at the lights above her. "Hey asshole!" she shouted, "Where's Robin?"

Artemis lifted her head up slightly and saw that darkness surrounded her sole source of light. The shadows moved around her before a doctor and three nurses stepped out of the darkness and moved close to her. Two of the three nurses pushed a cart filled with surgical tools against her gurney and the other wheeled a large mechanical contraption near her head.

She stared at the machine for a few seconds before her brain realized what it was used for, _"An __anesthetic machine__… they're going to knock me out, but why?"_ the nurse unhooked the clear mask from the tank and Artemis felt her heart beat increase. _"Scared, I'm scared… Why do I have to feel this powerless again?"_

"Your heart is very erratic, Ms. Archer. Don't worry, these doctors and nurses are trained professionals. Your life is in good hands." Manipulus's voice spoke from the shadows and the man she came to hate in a short amount of time appeared from the shadows.

The doctor moved around the heart monitor and busied himself by placing on a mask. Artemis glared daggers at her captor and snarled, "Where is Robin?" she whispered with malice lacing her voice. One of the nurse stopped preparing her station to glance at the restraints holding her patient; she did not want to be attacked by this girl is she snapped.

"WHERE IS HE?" she shouted. Silence replaced the tinkering noises from moving equipment or certain items and Manipulus took her desperation as a sign. _"A good sign in my favor,"_ he thought with a serene smile.

"Robin is already undergoing the surgery." He commented. Her body froze its small tremors of defiance. "I don't believe you," she murmured. His green eyes focused on her and she inwardly scolded herself when she turned away. His smile grew and he moved to stand next to her right side, "Here is something for you to believe in," he said and his hand pulled out a remote from his pocket.

Pressing a random button on the device turned on a thin television that was embedded into the wall. A blue screen greeted the room until it changed to a video camera's point of view in another room. The colored image showed Robin being operated on in a room eerily similar to the room Artemis was in.

His face was hidden by a doctor that was blocking him from the camera's vantage point and a nurse just passed the said doctor a scalpel. Artemis's brilliant blue eyes widened in fear and made herself stifle a scream that bubbled in her throat. _"Oliver would never forgive me if I gave these assholes anymore of myself,"_ she thought as her glare turned upward to stare at the lamps above her.

Manipulus turned off the T.V and his gaze turned to her face. "Artemis, do you know what is going to happen to you? The same thing that is happening to Robin will befall you as well." He left her side into the darkness and returned with a map of a human brain. She ignored his movement and trained her eyes on the stinging bright light.

His index finger trailed to the lower portion of the brain; the finger stopped on the spinal cord. "This is the spinal cord as you know. From there, all the information the body feels is sent to the brain where it will process the data and find the proper way to respond to any situation." His voice took on a tone that of a school teacher, spreading knowledge to a single unruly student.

She ignored him outwardly, but her mind was listening to every single syllable. He continued after a moment's pause, "The Mind Link can work on its own against a subject, but unlike S.T.A.R Labs, who stopped halfway through testing, I will take the extra step to ensure the subject cannot break free from its control." With an usher of his hand, one of the nurses brought him a small metal pan.

He moved it so Artemis could see inside it and revealed a small pill shaped metal object. "This is my insurance policy; a special transmitter that will cut off your brains reaction to situations and your body will become as limp as a puppet." He returned the pan to the waiting nurse and leaned in close to Artemis's face.

"With your body acting as a puppet, it will need a puppet master. Guess who that will be?" Manipulus's smile grew. "Your brain itself will enter a coma-like-state where actions will not be yours, but mine." He pulled away from her proximity and continued his sickening monologue.

"That little chip is a near replication of a blank human brain via a microchip and it will be connected to my Mind Link. The chip will be implanted at the C-1 vertebrae. The full name of the bone is cervical curvature one, or Atlas C1… Whichever term you like, and once the implant is completely healed, I will unleash you two onto the world. With your skills that grant you the honor of fighting alongside Metahumans in my hands, I can finally show everyone my power of control."

Artemis finally had enough of his blabbing and she let out a chuckle. After a few moments her chuckling turned into a laughter that resembled bells jingling in the wind. This small action made Manipulus scowl, "Why are you laughing?" he growled.

Her laughter died out and her now cold blue eyes gazed at him defiantly, "I have a good friend who told me something about your name, he said you took the word 'manipulate' and tried to be fancy." A small smile graced her lips. "I think it was a cheap power play. You're not some powerful man who will show everyone your power. You're just a pathetic man who is using a cheap trick to throw a temper tantrum in the Justice League's face. Pathetic!" she spat and a grinned appeared on her face at his expression.

His face was contorted into a look of shock, anger, and disbelief. "You… You're the pathetic one! I'LL SHOW YOU!" he yelled at her. Sharply turning to the nurse, he ordered, "Put her under now!"

Not wanting Manipulus to take his rage out on her, the said nurse quickly placed the mask over Artemis's nose and mouth and began counting down from ten.

"Ten, nine, eight…" the archer felt her eyelids grow heavy once again, "Seven, six, five, four…" her eyes shut close and her last free thought was oddly enough, Wally's smiling face. Her lips formed one more smile and Artemis never heard the nurse reach one.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Static or "snow" danced on the T.V screen and none of the viewers cared to alter the footage. Wally West stared at it like a zombie and Conner was listening to the annoying sound radiating from the low volume that Wally could not hear; both heroes were sitting on the couch.

M'gann M'orzz was in the kitchen peeling a red apple with a knife via her telekinetic powers, but the peel was long gone and now the knife was peeling the meat of the apple away; it was all falling into the sink. Her gaze revealed nothing she was feeling.

Kaldur'ahm was leaning against the back of the couch between Kid Flash and Superboy. His arms were crossed and his eyes were closed; while his posture maintained a sense peace, inside he felt nothing but guilt and pain.

All of them felt the tense air around them and no one moved to change it. It had been like this for an entire week in Mount Justice. The Justice League members who took over the kidnapping case of Robin and Artemis gave them an update every other day and those video conversations did nothing but anger them all.

No information had been found pertaining to Manipulus and nothing lead either group to finding their missing comrades or protégés. Batman only contacted them once; then Superman took over as their informant. Kid Flash knew it was because the Batman did not want the job of acknowledging he was getting nowhere, and since Superman was his best friend, he took the responsibility from the Dark Knight.

Metal clanging into the sink startled all of them as the male heroes turned their gaze to Megan who lost her concentration and dropped the knife into the sink. She winced at the loud clatter and looked up to the others. "I-I'm sorry," she murmured sheepishly.

Kid Flash returned to glaring at the static on the screen for a few minutes before he growled and shot up from his spot on the couch. "How the HELL can we just sit here waiting for the Justice League? We should go find them ourselves!" he cried out angrily.

Aqualad turned to face his friend with an air leadership and a stoic expression, "And where would we begin our search? Batman returned to S.T.A.R Labs with Superman and neither of them could find the trail. It ended at that gas station outside of New York City; if they lost it the trail what makes you think we can find it?"

The Fastest Boy Alive was still glaring as he challenged his leader. "We have Megan, if we can fly around that area, maybe she can find a trace of their consciousness and we can find them that way. Either way, it's better than WAITING HERE!" he snapped.

Conner stood from his seat and spoke up, "It has already been a week and nothing has come up. Magically some trail will appear out of nowhere and help us find our friends? Don't be stupid." He scoffed.

Kid Flash turned to Superboy and asked coldly, "You have super hearing; you could hear everything in this entire mountain if you wanted to, but you didn't hear our friends in danger? Now THAT is stupid!" he barked.

Silence engulfed the dining and living room as the statement sank into Superboy's head before he threw the first punch. Wally flew past Kaldur and into the opposite wall of the clone with a loud crackling noise of protest from the wall.

The said speedster slumped to his knees before Conner spoke, "You are faster than me, but you couldn't race down to the basement floor in time to save them! Where are you forgiven in YOUR negligence in saving them?" he roared. Kid Flash disappeared from his spot on the floor and with his speed he collided with Superboy and used the force of himself to push the raven haired youth into the T.V.

Superboy steadied himself against the cracked plastic that was once the T.V and snarled at the speedster standing a few feet away with a smug smirk.

Aqualad and Miss. Martian cautiously moved closer to them and the female alien spoke, "Guys, please don't fight. This won't help anyone!" she cried desperately trying to stop her friends.

Conner turned to her a snapped, "It helps when bottling up our anger DOES NOTHING FOR US!" when the last word left his lips, he kicked the coffee table in front of him towards Kid Flash. The said Metahuman ran out of the danger area, but Aqualad and Megan were now in danger of being hit by the flying furniture.

Kaldur summoned the water in his pack through his channeling weapons and produced his default weapon, the mace, and destroyed the object before it could hurt either of them. "Do you feel better? You both are attacking teammates just because you're angry. DOES IT HELP?" he shouted at them. Kid Flash reappeared by the shattered table that laid on the floor in front of Kaldur and demanded,

"What about you? You were our leader and you allowed them to go off on their own! They don't have powers like we do and you as the leader could have stopped them! WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP THEM?"

Megan finally stepped into the argument, "There was nothing we could do! They are our teammates Wally who fight crime; they are on the same team as us and you are talking like we are their babysitters! We are not! If you do not trust them as heroes, how can you any of us?"

Superboy glared at her and in his blind anger snarled, "You were connected to them IN THEIR MINDS! You should have felt something wrong even before they broke contact with you. When you lost them telepathically, WE LOST THEM PHYSICALLY!" he swiftly turned around and punched the already broken T.V deeper into the crumbling wall.

Aqualad stepped in front of Miss. Martian to defend her from Conner's words and said in an icy tone, "This is no one's fault. It was a mission which had dangers and we all knew the risks when we joined this team."

Kid Flash chuckled darkly before replying, "You've been fooling yourself since we got back. Out of all of us, you're the one who feels the most guilt since you are our leader. By default, it was your fault we lost Artemis and Robin."

Aqualad's form became rigid as that one sentence hurt more than any punch Superboy could ever muster.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" ordered another voice; the four heroes turned quickly to the three super heroes standing in the doorway. The Flash, Superman and Black Canary all had looks of disappointment as they looked upon the carnage that engulfed the living room.

Black Canary stepped forward and spoke, "Aqualad and Megan follow me," the two did not move so she added firmly, "Now." The Atlantean and Martian did as they were told and followed the said heroine out of the area.

The Flash turned to Wally, "Come on, we need to talk." He didn't even wait for Kid Flash to acknowledge his statement as he ran out of the mountain. Wally West, not Kid Flash, winced and quickly did as he was told. Uncle Barry never spoke to him in that tone of voice, _"Not since our first talk of my responsibility as a Flash…"_

With the disappearance of the Fastest Men Alive, The Man of Steel was left in the room with Superboy.

"I know you all are upset by losing Robin and Artemis, but you are a team; you should look out for one another-" Superman was cut off by his clone. "YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME! You don't care how I feel and you don't know I FEEL!" shouted Conner; before either realized what happened Superboy ran towards Superman and punched him in the left cheek.

The Man of Steel flew back into the same wall Wally hit and had a shocked expression on his face. _"Was that his punch or did he just take me off guard?"_ he thought as his clone ran towards him for another attack. This time Superman was ready and caught Conner's fist. "I've had teammates taken hostage and I know the feeling of knowing you can't do anything!" he reasoned; The Man of Steel's words only antagonized the other Metahuman and Superboy shoved him into the wall. The rubble crumbled around them and they found themselves in a training room.

Superman landed on his back but used the fall to propel Superboy off him. Conner landed on his back with a "thud" and quickly regained his footing. Superman was already standing, waiting for his clone to attack. "If you think this will help you then come on." Superman said in a firm tone.

"_It sounds like he's mocking me!"_ Conner thought and with another growl ripping from his throat, he blindly charged toward the man he existence was based on.

While the clone swung his fists wildly, Superman dodged with minimal movement. The more his punches hit air, the more Superboy's rage grew. _"I can't even hit him anymore! Why is there such a large gap between us?"_ another punch missed and so Conner swept his leg in a round house kick; the move was a blur so he assumed it would hit, but Superman dodged it by flying out of its reach.

"_Is it because I'm just a copy of the real thing?"_ his thought grew dark and his strikes started losing their force. Soon he stopped his moving altogether and stood a few feet away from Superman. "I'm just a clone of you… With only a few of your abilities, is that why I couldn't save Robin? Because I'm only a cheap imitation of you?" he whispered to his origin of creation.

Superman gasped at his "son" and blinked back the shock. _"Was this what Bruce was talking about in the diner?"_ he felt regret pull at his heart strings, but couldn't ponder on the thought anymore because Superboy took his moment off guard as a chance to rush towards him in a blurred movement. Both super men landed on the ground with Superman's body pinned to the floor and Superboy straddling his waist in order to begin his assault.

The Man of Steel did not resist as Superboy began punching him. His head flew from side to side as he was assaulted, but his ears heard everything Conner was shouting at him in between swings.

"If I was a perfect clone of you I could fly!" his right fist struck Superman on the left side of his face.

"If I had your ability to fly I could have saved him!" his left hook sent the Man of Steel's head whiplashing to the left.

"IF I WERE YOU I COULD HAVE SAVED MY BEST FRIEND!" cried Superboy as his fists dropped to his sides and he tilted his head up as water began leaking from his eyes.

Clark Kent stayed rooted in his spot even as the attacks stopped. He didn't even notice his split lip or his sore facial muscles as he thought numbly, _"All this time, he was enveloped in my shadow… he never asked to be created from me and I never consented for Cadmus to steal my DNA…"_ his eyes were fixed on Conner's tears.

_"Neither of us asked for this, but it happened."_ Before his mind could process what his arm was doing, his hand lifted up and rested itself on Superboy's shoulder.

Conner's body stopped shuddering from his crying and his gaze trained on Superman's face; confusion pulling in his watery eyes as he felt the strange comfort from him.

Neither moved nor spoke for a few minutes; only after the air was near suffocating did Superman speak, "You have my DNA; you have some of my powers; you are a hero like me, but you will never be me."

Superboy felt his innards squirm as the words echoed in his mind. _"Of course, I'm only just a fake you!"_ he thought bitterly.

Superman continued, "That is something you should be relieved of."

That caught Conner off guard and his confusion grew exponentially. "Everyone expects me to be the all-around good guy. That means I cannot make a mistake and I have to be something I'm not: perfect. You are not bound by that stifling reputation and even thought you carry the 'S' for 'Super', that doesn't mean you have to be like me."

His hand squeezed Conner's shoulder in a supportive way, "Be yourself and stop comparing yourself to me. You are a clone of me, but you can still be your own individual self. Do not force yourself to be what Camus made you to be. When I was growing up, I did not have a best friend who I could tell I was an alien from Krypton. You have Robin and the rest of the team who accept you for you who are." A sad smile graced his lips, "I never had that."

Their eyes remained glued to one another as the Man of Steel revealed himself to his clone, "Already you are different from me and you should use that to the fullest. Make mistakes and learn from them; that is one of the best ways to find out who you really are.

"You are different in another way: you are able to express how you really feel, Superboy. Not even I do that." His smile grew bitter, "The day I met you at Cadmus, I felt betrayed, angry, confused, and hurt. I never showed it to you and avoided you like the plague. I was a coward." He admitted. Conner quickly removed himself from Superman's midsection and moved a few steps back.

_"This is not the Superman I was taught of when I was connected to the Genomorphs… Is this the real him?"_ his thought were silenced when Superman chuckled. The Kryptonian's laughter made Conner a little uneasy. _"Another side I never knew of,"_ he added mentally.

"Batman called you my son when we were talking about you and I brushed him off. I knew he was telling the truth, but I just was not ready to take on the responsibility of helping you." His eyes which held no amusement focused on the younger man. "I was selfish and scared, but now this turn of events made me realize it's not about if I'm ready or not.

"You need me and I need to help you in times when no one else can." He glanced down at the floor for a moment before turning to face his clone.

"Conner, I'm sorry." Those three words proved powerful when Superboy sunk to his knees and felt all his energy escape him. _"This is too much like a dream. One I had when I first came here… it seemed so long ago and I gave up on Superman getting to know me…"_ he voiced out his thoughts. "I gave up on you and I ever having a relationship and I thought I'd have to turn to Black Canary and Batman for all the answers. I wanted to hate you, but somehow I knew I couldn't blame you… You never asked for a clone, I get that, but…" he trained his eyes on his "father".

"I need you to help me… Was I too weak to save my friends?"

His question hurt Superman physically and mentally, so the older hero closed the distance and he sat down beside Superboy in order to be on almost the same eye-level with his clone- "son"; gently he placed his hands back on Conner's shoulder.

"You were not weak, Conner. Aqualad was right no one could have done anything different. That doesn't make any of you weak or bad teammates. Before you can save Robin and Artemis, you have to accept that."

Both fell into silence and their gazes either landed on the floor or a chunk of rubble. Out of the blue, Superman asked, "Where did you get the name Conner?" the said teen looked at Superman and responded, "Robin gave me the name a while back. How did you know about my name?"

The Man of Steel smiled at him. "Just because I never showed any interest in you that _you_ saw doesn't mean I never showed interest, I asked Batman." Conner nodded.

"You need a last name though, like Wally West and M'gann M'orzz. It seems like you could use a last name like them." He fell into a pensive thought and Superboy had to bite his inner check in order to stop himself from stating that Artemis and Kaldur didn't have last names.

Finally the older hero said, "Conner Kent, what do you think of that?" the said boy remained silent before nodding in approval. "I like it; where did it come from?" now Superman's smile grew. "It is the name of my father on earth, Jonathan Kent, and since you are considered my son… The name should pass onto you."

"What is your name?" Conner blurted out before his mind could stop him; Superman tensed for a moment before his form relaxed and he said, "Clark Kent."

Superboy smiled and whispered, "Jonathan Kent, Clark Kent, and Conner Kent. The last name fits us all." And with that both super men shared the same sentiment.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

The Flash and Kid Flash were moving so fast, that they were about to run on top of the water with ease. Happy Harbor was now a dot in the distance as both of them escaped the stifling atmosphere of Mount Justice. They traveled southward and soon found themselves screeching to a stop in the Florida Keys.

The Flash stood without panting or showing any sign of fatigue, while Kid flash was lightly panting. In a matter of moments he calmed his breathing and stared out into the sunny day. "I thought you understood what I meant when I said we all worry about you guys." Spoke the Flash; Wally glared out at the waves that leisurely licked the beach in front of him.

"Yeah, I understood what you meant, but I didn't understand the feelings of losing my friends until they were gone!" he snapped.

Barry Allen gazed off into the distance and nodded, "I had the same reaction as well to a similar situation, yes, but I never attacked my teammates about it." That stung; the teenagers stomped his feet and managed to kick up sand that flew ten feet into the air.

The sudden crunching of sand under the steps of others made the heroes turn to see and elderly couple hesitantly standing a few ways back. The Flash offered them a brilliant smile and said, "I'm sorry to bother you, but can we borrow this portion of the island for a little bit?"

They both nodded dumbly and he smile grew, "Thanks a lot!" he called and resumed his stoic expression. "Do you really think it was Superboy, Miss. Martian, or Aqualad's fault for losing Robin and Artemis?" he asked.

Immediately, Wally replied, "Of course not! I-I was just so angry because we weren't doing ANYTHING!" he reasoned pathetically. "Do you blame Robin or Artemis? If they had powers like you or the other teammates of your team, they may not have been captured." He added as he picked up a pebble and threw it into the clear blue water.

"NO!" shouted Kid Flash, before his uncle could say anymore he snapped, "I'm mad at myself!" he took in a small breath before continuing. "Superboy was right! I am fast! Apart from you, I'm the second fastest person alive! I could have saved them if I wasn't holding onto Megan!" it all came out sounding like it was an entire sentence. He paused mid-rant and glanced at the random glass of lemonade that was offered to him and focused on the smiling elder lady from a few moments ago.

Tentatively, he took the offered drink and mumbled, "Thank you," she nodded and offered another glass to his uncle who took it with another smile. Once she left, the Flash continued their conversation. "So, you regret helping Megan when she needed your support the most? Remember, she just felt the shock of losing Artemis and Robin through her mental link. You thought it may have been different if you left her by herself and ran to save-" he was abruptly cut off.

"STOP TWISTING MY WORDS!" he cried as he dropped to his knees. Wally felt like his mentor's words were like tons of weight pushing down on him and his knees gave out from the pressure of those impactful words.

"Wally, we can both gather that you do not blame your teammates and you especially do not blame Artemis or Robin. Well then why blame yourself?" asked the elder speedster.

The young runner remained silent; in his mind he tried to find the right way to voice his thoughts. "I feel… So helpless in the mountain waiting for news that escapes us all. It hurts so much that I like my heart will burst and the more I think about Artemis and Robin, the more I feel like I abandoned them." His hands burrowed into the soft sand and he clenched the grains tightly.

"Would things have been different if we were one step ahead of Manipulus?" he questioned. The soothing sound of the waves filled their personal bubbles and allowed both speedsters a have a moment to themselves.

"Nothing good ever comes from tormenting yourself on 'maybes' or 'what ifs'. It only drives you mad. Believe me, I know how that feels." He pulled his nephew up from the sand and pulled him close into an embrace. "You cannot tear yourself apart because of this. What would Robin or Artemis say if they heard you beating yourself up like this?"

Despite his lousy feeling, Kid Flash smiled and replied in a tired voice, "Robin would scold me and I could just hear Artemis, 'Wally, you idiot! What good can you get from being a dork?'" he said.

The Flash parted their hug and pulled back enough so he could meet his nephew's gaze. "Exactly. If you know how they would react, then that should be enough of a push to get you out of this slump. Like Aqualad said, this mission was no one's fault. Understand this and accept it; you can't help them if you cannot help yourself first."

The youngest Flash remained silent for a moment before a flicker of emotion danced in those blue eyes. The Flash looked closer and saw how determination now blazed in Wally's eyes. _"Acceptance and once you have, you can move forward." _ Barry thought and his smile returned.

"Thank you, Uncle Barry." Spoke Wally and his uncle nodded, "I will be there for you because us speedsters need to be there for each other." He paused and added, "Not to mention your Aunt Iris would kick my ass." This statement made laughter flow from the younger Flash, The Flash nodded, "Don't tell Iris I said that." He whispered in a pleading tone. Wally West nodded in return.

The two turned to the two elderly couple who were sitting in their beach chairs and then to their empty glasses that were abandoned in the sand. Their gazes met before the Flash turned his attention back to the said couple and called out, "Excuse me for wasting the lemonade, it smelled great." They walked closer and he added, "As an apology do you need any help around the house?"

The man and woman shared a look that shared the sentiment of, _"That's a new one."_

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Black Canary lead Megan and Kaldur down the familiar hallway that lead to the usual training room that Dinah Lance brought her pupils to every training meet under her hero title "Black Canary". She flicked the lights on and strolled to the center of the room. The three heroes formed a small circle and the two younger heroes kept their gazes down to the floor.

Black Canary continued her examination of Megan's posture and Kaldur's facial expression. Both had features of defeated heroes. _"Not that I blame them, Kid Flash and Superboy really messed them up."_ Her thoughts were interrupted by Megan's voice.

"I do not blame them; they were upset and angry. Their emotions got the better of them and they lashed out. I know how they feel and if they even think about asking for forgiveness, I will give it to them not because I think deserve it, but because they think they need it."

The Justice League member blinked back her shock before smiling to the other female fighter. "You are very wise and understanding, Megan. Sometimes I think these boys take you for granted." Aqualad nodded in agreement to her and spoke, "I believe I owe you an apology, Megan."

His statement cause the said Martian to turn to him with a perplexed expression marring her face. "Why do you think that?" at her question, the Atlantean offered a sad smile. "I'm sorry that my leadership led us all into losing teammates. If I could I would go back and somehow change it, but I know that is not possible." His smile eased into a calm exterior, "All I can do it try and be an even better leader and push myself into ensuring all my teammates and friends are safe. I have to be a better leader until Robin takes his place."

Megan placed a hand on his cheek and made him stare into her eyes. "You already are a great leader. You keep our team calm when we need to be; you ensure we are all safe; and you do not need to push yourself beyond a limit that only you can see."

He nodded and took her hand into his. Her lithe hands were warm and comforting in his larger ones and he responded, "I feel like I failed them. In our line of work, I know there are risks in each mission, but I think I came to grasp with my feelings too quick. I accepted they were kidnapped and I accept that we all are not to blame, but what if I came to this conclusion too fast?"

Black Canary stepped in at this moment. "The faster you understand that it was not your fault, the faster you can help Robin and Artemis when the time comes. You already know they will not blame you. Kaldur'ahm, I am proud of you for being quick in your mind and your feelings, but your heart is too harsh a judge on yourself. Remember what I said about recovering quickly and now taking the time you have to ready yourself for when Batman or Superman come here with news regarding your friends."

A kind smile graced the blonde angel's lips, "That is all you can do right now." Megan and Kaldur's eyes met again and they remained silent for a couple minutes.

Black Canary knew they were talking in their personal "chat room" and patiently waited for them, when they did, the Atlantean's sea-green eyes met hers as well as the Martian's deep red eyes.

"Black Canary, will you please take some time and train with us right now?" asked Aqualad; Miss. Martian smiled, "Yes, please. So we can be ready when we receive new information about our friends."

Black Canary nodded and the three took several steps back. "You two, against me; and this time I have my mind defenses up." With that said from their trainer, the two Young Justice heroes charge at her.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Batman scowled at anything his covered eyes settled on. He was overloading the Bat cave's system with all the profile windows of criminals and villains opened that may have a connection to his son's disappearance, but nothing panned out. On the translucent screen to his right, there was an entire monitor for the profile of Manipulus with the only note of "try not to kill him" typed in clear font.

He was so engrossed with his research that he missed the small footsteps of his third son, Timothy Wayne coming down the stairs.

The little one was the youngest of his adopted sons at the young age of four; he trailed down the dark steps that lead into his father's grotto and soon the boy dressed in Robin, Boy Wonder pajamas made his way to his "papa" and his small fingers grabbed a hold of the long cape and he tugged gently.

Batman stopped his pondering or sulking to see his son looking up at him with those same dazzling blue eyes Dick and Jason had and he unconsciously paused "Batman mode". Tim lifted his hands up in a motion that silently translated to "carry me" and the Dark Knight removed his cowl from his head to reveal a worn out looking Bruce Wayne. Removing his dangerous gloves, he discarded them onto the keyboard and picked his youngest up into his large arms.

Like always, Tim nestled his face into the crook of his father's neck and relaxed. Bruce took a moment to stare at his son's tussle of raven colored hair and sighed inaudibly. _"I almost forgot what it was like to have a little one in the family,"_ he thought as he moved to leave his lair and began the trek of walking up the stairs.

"_Jason was my first, but he was already a teenager when I adopted him. After a while, he left and I rarely see him now. He comes to see Dick, but other than that… Nothing."_ He opened the secret panel that opened up to his library and closed the ruse passageway that was located behind the father clock. _"Dick came to live with us when he was seven, but he was never this small."_ A sad smile found its way onto his lips and his arms encircled Tim's lazed form unconsciously. _"You've only been with us for a year, and you know of our secrets. One day, I see you taking up the family tradition and I will have to worry about you as well."_ That thought connected to his concern for his second son, Richard Wayne, and his smile faded.

His feet lead him to his room where he knew Tim first came to look for him, only to find the master bedroom void of him. Pulling back to covers, Bruce rested his third son into the soft bed and covered Tim to his shoulders; it was a warm night and the few sheets would offer comfort.

He stared down at his youngest recalling Tim's words earlier that day.

"_Where is Dick? He's been gone all week and I haven't gotten to see him!" whined the four-year-old as Alfred, the surrogate father of Bruce Wayne prepared the child's dinner. The said caretaker of the crazy family stirred the string beans in the pan and replied, "I'm sure Master Richard will return shortly and sooner than you think."_

_ The child didn't look convinced and added, "Jason said he was taken and may not come back." Alfred stopped his stirring and turned to Tim who was seated in a booth seat that was placed in front of the island of the kitchen._

_Before the butler could respond, Bruce Wayne entered the room and swept him into his arms. "Do you believe Jason is right?" he asked; immediately, the child shook his head from side to side. "No, I think Dick will come back to us."_

_ His father gave him a smile that Batman could never replicate and he replied, "Good, because I believe that too." He left his son and father figure to their own devices and he made his way into the Bat cave where he could glare at the wall and scold his oldest son over the communicator._

Bruce Wayne kept staring at Tim's sleeping figure and was standing up to return to the Bat cave, but a small voice spoke up from the warmth of the bed. "Can you please stay with me tonight, Papa?" Batman wanted to say "no", but Bruce Wayne knew he could not abandon one son for the other. _"Dick would yell at me if I left Tim by himself like this,"_ he thought wryly before he pulled the covers free from their folded perfection and slipped in beside his son. Like a kitten, Tim cuddled close and rested his head on his father's chest; comforted by the presence that protected him as Bruce and also as the Dark Knight.

With Tim's breathing inferring the child was asleep, Bruce continued concentrating on that soft sound and the heartbeat of his child's life beating, the duel personality individual known as Batman and Bruce Wayne fell into a slumber that eluded him for almost three days.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

A large gym that seemed to be the size of a football field gave the promise of a good training for his new students allowed Manipulus a chance to grin. _"I never knew my mother's money would be a key in helping me build this facility! Mother, are you proud of me?"_ he thought as he gazed at the underground gym.

He heard electronic doors slide open as two doctors lead his newest members of his group onto the sleek floor that will become their training ground for the next week.

Robin and Artemis both maintained their masks, but lost the defiance in their eyes as they stared at him. Those blue eyes devoid of any emotion made Manipulus want to cheer to the heavens where his mother was and he moved closer to them. Their usual super hero costumes were replaced with black suits with a red streak rolling down Robin's sides and a deep forest green rolled down Artemis's side.

"Good morning, my students. How did you sleep last night?" his voice was polite and neither showed disgust for him like their first encounters.

Artemis spoke first, "Satisfactory, sir."

Robin nodded, "I slept well, sir."

Manipulus felt the uncontrollable urge to cackle and laugh at the two, but held it in; he would save that for when they appeared in front of the Young Justice and Justice League!

"That is good my children. Now as you know, it has been one week since you were 'reborn' and the doctors tell me the advanced medicine allowed for a quick recovery. Show me your chips." As the two turned their backs on his and tugged the part of the suit that blocked their necks, Manipulus adjusted the platinum silver band that rested on his head like a crown.

As long as it maintained contact with his head, he could control the brats to do his bidding. He examined their necks where their C-1 vertebrae was and saw that the sutures were removed at the skin was once again a flawless pigment; showing no sign of any alteration.

"Very good; now children, this next week will be very important to you and me because it will be me testing how far the waves from the Mind Link can travel and how long you can take the replacement nervous system in your chip. By the end of this week, if the tests prove fruitful, you will go to the S.T.A.R Labs in Chicago and retrieve for me new technology. Doesn't that sound wonderful?" he asked in his teacher voice.

The both nodded and simultaneously responded, "Yes, sir." He patted Robin on his head and patted Artemis on her cheek.

"I am happy to hear that." He turned face another pair of sliding doors. "Send in the bots." He commanded and the said doors opened to reveal thirty six feet robots walking in perfect order towards him. "It is amazing what you can buy with the right price; all I had to do was approach Mechanical Master and offer him a number. He mass produced these for me in no time." He finished talking to himself and turned to face the non-Metahumans that now followed his orders.

"Now, before you both begin your long training session with these robots you will need new titles. I don't want to call you by those goody-two-shoes names while you are working with me." He turned to Artemis, "We will now call you Pandora; the girl who did not listen when she was told not to open the box she was given. She let our all the bad things that now exist in the world. Do you like your new name?" he asked as if she had a choice.

Pandora nodded and replied in her monotone voice, "Yes, sir."

Manipulus then turned to Robin and said, "You shall inherit the name Odysseus used in The Odyssey. When he blinded the Cyclopes and he asked who did it Odysseus said, 'Nobody'. When the other titans found their brother blinded and they asked who did it all he could say was, 'Nobody'." The said villain smiled, "Does that sound like a good name?"

Something in Robin pained him as he heard a deep male voice in his head recite the poem of Homer to him. The same story that made him feel confused.

He shook off the strange feeling and nodded as well, "Yes, sir." responded Nobody in a dead tone.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

**Chinese Fairy:** My goodness! I can't believe I'm updating so quickly, but a lot of people reviewed the first chapter and I thought I would thank them! Here you all are! (flaunts story) In this chapter I hope I still maintained their characters and it is believable that our favorite heroes would react like this in this kind of situation.

Also, regarding the scene with Bruce and his "son" Tim Wayne, that is actually Tim Drake. I took the liberty of adding the two other Robins and changing their order of who Bruce saved first. I know it was Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and then Tim Drake, but it is called "fanfiction" for a reason!

I must also take this chance to thank author, idkmybffjill011. They wrote a great story titled: "Alamo High" and she placed a child version of Tim Drake into Bruce's life. I thought this was a wonderful idea and I wanted to have the other Robins have cameos in my story. I love them all, I couldn't help it!

**Note:** At the end of this chapter, Mechanical Master is spoken of. He is an enemy of Hawkman and Hawkgirl if anyone was wondering~

Thank you all and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Look for the next one soon!


	3. Chapter 3

**Pawns Can Feel Too**

**Chapter 3**

**Chinese Fairy:** Well, I get the feeling that people like the story, but not as many people review it. I'm not going to try guilt tripping you guys or threatening no updates till I reach a certain number of reviews, but it wouldn't kill to review. One thing I love is a review that gives me feedback ranging from positive to constructive. So, don't think of this as a threat or B.S. Just take it as a request. As long as people come to read, I'll update; that's a promise.

MY GOD THE STORY IS DOING SO WELL! I FEEL LIKE A GIDDY TEENAGER, says the 20 year-old…

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Young Justice" it belongs to Warner Bros. and D.C Comics. The Vault in the story is from a company titled "Liberty" and I do not own the safe door or the right to them; I'm just borrowing for this chapter. As per last story, nothing has changed and I do not now magically own the rights.

**Warnings:** Action scenes, slight swearing, and some blood. IN THIS CHAPTER THERE WILL BE TORTURE! Keep that in mind! Ah, just so you all know, my actions scenes may need some work, but I will do my best!

As usual, I hope you all like this chapter as much as the other ones!

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

**Pawns Can Feel Too**

**Chapter 3**

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Pain was something the Mind Link could not squash out; the device could restrain their free will and the actions their bodies wanted to take, but the mind control device could not fully bury the pain of the training. It was like a side effect from a trial drug.

Artemis- no, Pandora flipped backwards three times to avoid a dangerous swing from one of the robots arms and paused to catch a breath. Her left arm was bleeding from an injury she received 20 minutes ago, but her "mind" made her continue training.

Nobody dodged rolled out of the way of another robot and threw an explosive disk at it. It detonated and left nothing but rubble to suggest something once stood there. A laceration on his right thigh made his form hobble from blood loss, but his body kept fighting.

While his new subjects still fighting, Manipulus took note on everything that was occurring during their third training session. _"Their bodies are in pain due to injuries, but they do not register the pain, interesting… that may prove to be an advantage and a burden. It will be true karma to those Metahumans when their brainwashed teammates appear before them injured and still ready to fight."_ He chuckled at that sentiment and watched as Pandora finally retrieved her bow and shot down one of the robots. There were three more robots and the two heroes had two minutes to defeat them; otherwise a penalty will be given.

Nobody sprinted towards one of the machines and dodged rolled through its parted legs before flinging five batarangs at the robot. He then summersaulted out of the blast radius.

Pandora had only one arrow left in her quiver; another batch of her arrows was twenty feet away. The metal monster was advancing towards her, but she did not show any emotion. The archer ran towards the robot and pulled out the single arrow in order to stab it into the torso of the machine with her bare hands.

The skin of her palms ripped open as she forced the arrow deeper into the chest and she flipped off the defeated thing while it crumbled to its knees. Without catching a breath, she turned to take on the last robot with Nobody right behind her.

They synchronized their movements and both kicked the enemy off balance. Nobody snapped his boa staff open and struck the machine on its left side; this caused sparks to fly from a large dent. Pandora took her bow and raised it over her head, without concern for the gift she was given by Green Arrow; she brought it down upon the robot's head and splintered the weapon while more electrical sparks came from its damaged head.

They both moved back; Nobody back flipped away from the robot and pulled out his last two explosive disks. Pandora noticed the fully stocked quiver of volatile arrows hear her, so she ran and picked them up. The archer pulled out two arrows and held them like darts. The two shared a second span glance before the male hero flung his weapons at the enemy.

Pandora followed soon after and threw her larger forms of darts at the machine. The blast from Nobody's weapons ignited her arrows and the last practice robot was destroyed.

The sound of one person clapping their hands echoed in the large battle ground as Manipulus walked leisurely over to their injured forms. "That was brilliant my children, but there is one problem: you were given fifteen minutes to destroy thirty of Mechanical Master's robots and you went 45 seconds over the time limit,"

Neither heroes showed any emotions that may have appeared if they we in Mount Justice training with Black Canary. Once they were assigned to do an obstacle course in a certain amount of time, the only one who did not pass was Superboy who took time to defeat all the "bad guys" that attempted to stall him. He was a minute over, but no penalty was given; only the promise to do better.

"As punishment," continued Manipulus, "You will fight fifteen more robots and you will only have ten minutes to defeat them."

"Yes, sir." They both said in their monotone voice; he smiled as more robots entered the ring. "Then get going; the battle begins in three, two… One!" their forms were running towards their new enemies.

As the echoes of metal striking metal and explosions indicating defeated enemies, Manipulus turned to a nameless doctor and spoke, "We will need a replacement bow for Pandora and a better boa staff for Nobody; see to it that it is taken care of." She nodded and turned to walk away. "Wait," the control freak called.

She turned back to face her employer and waited for more instructions, "Make sure to have it done by tomorrow night. Our children will be going to withdraw money for me in Coast City. Contact the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and schedule a flight tomorrow; make sure in the time it takes the jet to be refueled they will have completed their chore." The female doctor now part time secretary bowed her head in understanding and left the training room where the raw battle cries of Nobody and Pandora resonated after her.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

"No Kid Flash, everything else is good except your stance. Superboy, try again." Black Canary ordered; Conner nodded to her and charged towards Wally for what seemed like the umpteenth time. The said clone rushed towards the speedster and the dance began again.

Like water, his body moved left and in the same motion shifted right. A powerful punch was aimed at his face, but Kid Flash used the vibrating molecules around him to push Superboy back with the blurred barrier around him; Conner went flying.

The crunching of earth sounded in the training room as Superboy dislodged himself from the wall with the brilliant message on the floor that deemed him "beaten". Black Canary nodded in approval at Wally and spoke again, "Good. You're learning to control the molecules around yourself; we just need to work on you moving through solid objects," the last comment made the Fastest Boy Alive blush.

"That is still a hard one, but I guess we can practice." He glanced around the empty room and noted that Kaldur and Megan were not there again.

Both the Atlantean and the Martian have been spending the last five days in a quiet room down the hall where Aqualad requested Megan to teach him methods of opening his mind more to her telepathic abilities. It was exhausting, but proved fruitful since they both could converse over greater distances and he was exploring more of the telepath in him.

Black Canary, Superboy, and Kid Flash moved closer to the solid mountain wall before she began, "According to the Flash, you already are able to vibrate your molecules, but your mind is unable to comprehend the power. Attempt to vibrate into the wall about four feet and then come back out; if you get stuck, Superboy will pull you out."

The said speedster chuckled nervously and commented, "Thank you for that mental image," he approached the wall. "Here goes nothing!" he cried before his form began shaking faster and faster until he charged at the wall and his form melded into the wall. Bit by bit his body disappeared into the muddy brown wall and soon he vanished entirely. A moment later, a muffled voice weakly came from the wall, "Help!"

Dinah sighed softly, "Can you get him out without damaging the wall TOO much, Conner?" she asked; he nodded and punched the wall and pulled out a dusty and dizzy Kid Flash.

"Is my nose bleeding…?" he asked weakly, Superboy and Black Canary glanced at each other and dead panned, "Yes." He sighed loudly and replied, "I think I'm done with experimenting for the day."

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Aqualad exhaled while his brilliant blue-green eyes opened to meet Megan's dazzling red orbs. "I'm not sure if it is working Megan. I mean, I can talk to sea creature like my King, but I'm not sure if I am getting anywhere with communicating with you." He stared at the floor since he could not meet Miss. Martian's eyes. _"We've been working on this for the last five days and she has helped me in exploring my telepathic ability, only for me to fall short!"_ he mentally sighed in frustration and she offered a smile.

"Kaldur, you have made excellent progress in the last few days. You went from me instigating the conversations to you and me speaking mentally to one another for eight hours straight. That kind of mental concentration is hard on anyone not gifted with this power. You're doing well!" her encouragement made him lift his gaze.

As he thought over her words, he let another sigh pass through his lips. "Let's try again. If I can talk to any creature of the deep, then I can initiate a conversation with you." He said with confidence. She nodded happily, "I believe in you, Kaldur'ahm." She whispered and both of their eyes fluttered closed.

"_Concentrate…" _his mind said; he cleared his mind of any distraction. No thinking of Robin and Artemis; no contemplating how well Kid Flash and Superboy were training; he had to push everything out in his one moment to clear his mind and concentrate on finding Megan's mind. _"Even though she is right across from me, her mind is far from me…"_ he thought as his breathing slowed.

"_I believe in you, Kaldur'ahm…"_ his eyebrow twitched as he heard that faint whisper; _"Megan; M'gann, was that you?"_ his mind called out. An electrical shock jolted them both as he entered her mind. Kaldur gasped as he entered her pearly white mind.

_"Good job, Kaldur. I knew you could do it." Spoke a voice from behind his corporeal form. He turned and saw Megan standing there with a beaming smile. He returned the smile and nodded, "Thanks to your tutelage I have been able to now extend my telepathic ability to others." He paused and looked away. Megan glanced at him and gasped,_

"_Kaldur do not feel or think such a thing!" she said in a voice with fear laced in. The Atlantean looked at her with shocked eyes. "You can feel what I feel as well?" she nodded and continued. "We are mentally connected right now; you can feel what I feel as I can feel what you feel. You are doing very well and you should not think of such horrible 'what ifs'! Remember what Black Canary said, think of the future and do not dwell on the past."_

_A defeated sigh escaped him in the cloudy form of himself in Megan's mind which made her smile sadly, "Please don't give into those thoughts now, Aqualad. We need our leader ready for when we go after Manipulus to save Artemis and Robin."_

Abruptly, he pulled out of the mind connection and his form slumped in fatigue with his hands propping his body in a sitting position. She opened her eyes and stared at her teammate deemed older brother in sympathy. "I know," he replied quietly; she knew for a fact he wasn't finished speaking so she patiently waited for him.

"… I know I shouldn't wallow in self-pity, but I wish there was some way to have avoided losing them. They are not Metahumans, but they are our teammates. I… I'm not sure if a part of me does blame them for not having abilities and it is hurting me." Silence ate him alive as he now stared at his hands in hopes that the answer is in them.

Megan stared at her leader before moving closer to him and placing her hands into his. "I know for a fact that you do not blame them." She lifted his gaze to her and she continued, "You do not; I know because we were connected mentally and I felt everything you felt. You have not had any feeling of resenting them. If you will not believe yourself now, than believe me."

Their eyes kept focused on one another for what seemed like an eternity until he smiled, "Black Canary was right; you really are a treasure to us all and we do take you for granted." She laughed at his statement and nodded, "I'm beginning to think that as well."

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

A van with no plates and a government tag was running; waited in an underground garage for its two passengers. Nobody was in Robin's usual attire with subtle changes; the underside of his cape was no longer a brilliant yellow, but like the red on his costume and his utility belt was spray painted black; one more addition was a black hood hiding his already domino covered eyes in shadows. An absence was the brilliant "R" on his chest that proclaimed he was Robin; it was removed from his new suit. His utility was replenished with weapons, but not the ones he was given to by Batman. The scientists made them similar, but more deadly with the intention to kill engineered into them.

Pandora's costume was still Artemis's suit with only the color altered: the beautiful green shade was replaced by a deep forest green that almost blended into shadows and like Nobody, she also had a dark green hood hiding her still masked face. Her bow was slung over her shoulder along with a quiver of bows.

With Manipulus controlling them from across the nation, he knew for a fact that his children were going to succeed in the mission and kill anyone who gets in their way. _"My children are perfect,"_ he thought proudly as he gazed upon them.

They remained standing in front of their master as he gazed at them proudly, but their bodies were begging to rest. Although their forms wished for the much deserved rest, their controlled minds did not yield.

"You both are going to do me a little errand; as much as I well off in the situation of money, there is always room for more in my life. With the costs of maintaining the faculty; keeping the doctors employed; having the medical wing full stocked; and paying Mechanical Master for his wonderful robots, I want to make sure I replenish my accounts.

"Nobody and Pandora, you will travel to Coast City where my father did business with the Ferris Aircraft company. There is a bank where he left a large sum of money and never gave any of it to my mother. He was greedy so now that he is dead, that money rightfully belongs to me. Go to the Coast City Bank and get it for me."

"Yes, sir." Was the same reply as always. He smiled at both of them and patted both of them in approval: Nobody on his head and Pandora on her cheek. "That's my good children." Added Manipulus with his traditional kind smile.

He lead them to the van and opened the door for them; while stepping in he added to his order, "Oh, and if anyone gets in your way and they just won't let you leave, kill them like the inferior beings that they are." The statement was chilling since the tone he used could be related to someone talking about a fond childhood memory.

"Yes, sir." Nobody replied and the door slid closed. Patting the vehicle door, it signaled to the driver to go and his children left him for the time being. Pulling out his cell phone, he checked the time and smiled. "In about nine hours, I am going to get back all the money I have invested into this personal mission," he said to himself and made his way to an elevator which waited just for him.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

The company jet that Manipulus owned was fast, but it could not compare to Megan's Bio-Ship. It usually takes a plane or personal jet seven to eight hours to get to the west coast, but this custom made jet cut the time in half. It landed in Coast City National Airport and they slipped into the shadows of the hanger their plane would wait for them in. A male doctor was sitting in one of the plush seats of the jet typing away on a laptop when the two heroes were standing from their seats.

"Be sure to return in an hour; we will only wait that long. If you take longer than that, we will be forced to leave you here per Sir Manipulus's instructions. Also, you will need a vehicle to transport the money. Please use the car that is parked outside the hanger. Mission begins in forty-five seconds; go now." He commanded and they nodded once before leaving the inside of the jet and blurring into the shadows donated by the hanger.

Nobody and Pandora made their way silently outside to where the said black car was waiting for them. Pandora slid into the driver's seat with Nobody in the passenger seat. With the keys already in the ignition, she brought the two ton car to life and she drove off with the head lights off.

They were shrouded in darkness and only Nobody's glove had the map. He swiped his left hand over his right glove and another map appeared. Since Manipulus was concerned with the Batman keeping tabs on his ward's devices, he had a tech take the computer from the left glove and make a clone that the Dark Knight could not trace. He typed on the holographic keyboard and zoomed into the area where the bank was located.

"Ten minutes to target; park three blocks away from the target to ensure stealth." He ordered; Pandora nodded and sped off to the bank. Coast City Bank was a two-story building that was constructed out of bricks and its cornerstones were placed in several years earlier. It had two A.T.M machines in the front, but other than that, it was closed off for the night.

Easily, the two heroes climbed up a fire escape on an apartment building near the bank and approached their target via the roofs. Robin pulled out his grappling gun and fired it towards the roof. Pandora replicated the same action with her bow and an arrow that had rope attached to its nock. Like shadows, they fluttered over the street and quietly landed onto the roof.

Immediately, Nobody spirited off into the direction of a large box and opened it with tools from his belt. It was the circuit box that controlled the power distribution into the bank. He quickly plugged his computer into an access jack and altered the cameras to loop for the next fifteen minutes and he shut off the security system. A few minutes passed before he nodded in approval for Pandora to crack open the roof exit hatch.

Like a snake, she slithered down the opening and silently dropped down onto the second floor where the only light source came from the roof. She pulled out of her quiver goggles that granter her sight in darkness and she made her way down stairs to the where the vault was.

"Can you hack into the vault, Pandora?" asked Nobody as he unplugged from the circuit box and jumped into the darkness of the building.

The archer flipped over to the solid glass barrier that kept patrons away from the vault and pulled out an arrow with the feathers a mixture of red and green. She stabbed it into the glass wall and it acted as a soldering gun and burned through the glass like nothing. Pandora held it by the nock section of the arrow and kept moving it to form a perfect circle where once she was done, the hero pushed the finely cut glass out of the way and allowed it to thump onto the floor.

"Done, come in and open the vault." She said into her communicator; a few seconds later a shadow whisked passed her and made its way past the opening and to the back of the bank where a large armor plated door waited for Nobody.

He casually made his way over to the door that swore protection to all the patrons of the bank and he pressed his ear to the metal door.

"A Liberty custom made laminated steel door with reinforced 5/8 inch thick fiberglass. Rack and pinion locking and a trip wire system…" he murmured to himself. He pulled out four explosive disks and placed them on the four weakest points of the safe door.

One on each corner and he set the time; Nobody took a few steps back and pressed the detonation button that was located on his updated utility belt and the door blew.

Pandora and Nobody ducked and waited seven seconds for the smoke and debris to clear before either of them moved close to the opened safe. They both walked over the decimated door and entered the mostly intact vault.

"Locate and raid box number 1472," said Pandora; she and the younger hero scrolled the walls until they found the said safety deposit box. "You go unload the rest of the money in the bank and I'll work on removing the box." Pandora commanded.

Nobody nodded and did as he was told. He moved to where the money after a busy day was stored and opened the cages. Taking one look at the money and the subtle trap, he pulled out a pair of pliers and a knife; he went underway to deactivating the blue packs and any other tracking system from their prize.

Without needing something to carry them, he picked up three satchels of money and turned to Pandora who had the box in one hand and two big bags of their master's money tossed over her left shoulder. He noticed the arm that held the money was causing her injury from yesterday to bleed, but he did not say anything about it.

"We have four minutes before the system starts up again, let's go." He said and they left the vault. When they made their way back to where the barrier once stood they paused mid step as a man garbed in a green and black suit with white gloves appeared in front of them.

_**"In brightest day, in darkest night no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"**_

Hal Jordan stood there in front of the two Young Justice members as the First Green Lantern. They stared indifferently at him for one moment before dropping their goods to the floor and charging towards him.

"We know your weakness, Green Lantern." Spoke Nobody; he dodged the Justice League member's attack and threw a flash bomb at their enemy. Pandora took the chance to get behind the hero and place him in a choke hold. Without trying, he surrounded himself with the power of his ring and opened up a sphere shaped barrier that pushed her back.

"I do not want to hurt either of you. All of the Justice League was informed of your kidnapping. I want to help you." He reasoned with them, but all his words fell on deaf ears. Nobody pulled out two balls from his utility belt and his action was seen by The Green Lantern.

Hal was preparing for another flash bomb, but let out a cry of shock as the thirteen year old threw the spheres and they exploded on his shield. They were yellow paint balls that popped on his green barrier.

"No!" shouted Green Lantern as his ring pulled back its power and returned to his right hand. "Your weakness as the Green Lantern is the color yellow; it is not a secret, but it is hard to surprise you." Pandora said as she pulled back an arrow and fired it at her enemy. The arrow's tip busted and splattered yellow onto the hero and his ring.

Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern, laid on the floor feeling weak as the paint seemed to be squeezing all his energy from his body. Pandora moved closer to his huddled form with an arrow cocked onto the nocking point and she was pointing sharp, finely tipped arrow at his head.

"Our master knew this is your city; the City Without Fear. He made sure we were prepared for your arrival. He also said that anyone who gets in our way must die, so says Sir Manipulus." She said in a cold voice that made him involuntarily shiver. The archer was a second away from releasing the arrow when a gloved hand stopped her. Pandora looked up to Nobody and saw that he was stopping her.

His body froze for a moment at his action and shook his head; "What… are you, you doing Artemis…?" he asked; Green Lantern gasped as he heard Robin speak; _"Their consciousness is still in there somewhere!"_ he yelled internally. He was about to get up from his place on the floor when a small beeping caught his attention. Nobody placed a small device near him and activated it. An electrical force field suddenly surrounded him; it was glowing a bright yellow, which caused him to fall back onto the floor.

"We need to go now, the timer will go off in forty seconds and the security system will turn on again. Let's go now, Pandora; he is neutralized." Something in Pandora's dead, blue gaze flickered a shimmering blue, which indicated Artemis's consciousness, but came and went within a second. Her eyes reverted back to a dead gaze and she nodded. "Agreed, Nobody; let's go." They picked up their goods and ran back up the stairs and disappeared back onto the roof just as the alarm system turned back on and they vanished like a bad dream.

They only left a destroyed bank and an imprisoned Green Lantern in their wake as the only signs to show they were there.

They made it back to their car and placed their goods in the truck, slipping off their hoods and masks, An older sister picking up her younger from a party were driving towards their home which was close to the airport. _"That's the story you tell anyone that intercepts you in your civilian form."_ Manipulus cautioned via the mind control and they obeyed.

Once they reached the airport, their masks slipped back on and also their hoods. "Go and tell Doctor Isaac that we are ready to leave." Nobody said as he pulled out some of the goods from the back. Pandora slipped off into the private hanger and left her partner to his own musings.

While he was pulling out a satchel, he stopped himself and stood upright. Nobody placed an index finger to his mask and pulled it back; in the faint light of the runways, he saw a glistening of liquid. "I am crying… Why?" he said to no one and no one answered.

The tears continued even after Pandora and himself were placed in the prepared plane with their master's money and it took off. What Isaac or Nobody did not notice was that Pandora's eyes were also releasing tears and she did not know why her eyes were leaking water, sodium, mucin, potassium, and lacritin.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

The police arrived on the scene of the bank robbery ten minutes later with the second Green Lantern, John Stewart, as back up from the Justice League. He deactivated the mechanism that confined his ally.

Hal Jordan attempted to stand on his own, but almost fell over due to his weak muscles. John offered his shoulder and allowed his friend to lean on him. "What got you?" the second Green Lantern asked as he moved them away from the group of police who were now taking photos trying to find prints and searching the area for any clues.

The first Green Lantern took a moment to breathe the fresh air before replying. "It was Robin and Artemis… It was the protégés of Batman and Green Arrow." He slumped against his successor and allowed himself to rest his sore body.

John Stewart noticed this and pressed the communicator in his ear to open a channel, "Green Lantern identification code 034; come in Watchtower." A moment passed before Martian Manhunter's voice responded.

"This is the Watchtower, go ahead, John."

The second Green Lantern did not wait a second, "Two to beam up. Also, call the Batman and Green Arrow to the Watchtower; we just found our first lead in the kidnapping case of Artemis and Robin."

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Wayne manor was experiencing another slow night since. Alfred retired an hour ago; Tim was nestled in his papa's bed with his father sitting upright in the same bed while typing on his portable laptop. Bruce Wayne was searching through more criminal files that he received from Clark Kent.

The encoded connection to the Watchtower made the bottom right hand corner of his portable computer flash a red and he opened the channel with his ear piece.

"This is Batman, go ahead J'onn." He said; reverting his tone to the Batman's voice. The said Martian replied, "We have news."

He straightened in his seat, which slightly jostled his son. Tim's blue eyes blinked open as he saw his father out of bed and slipping on his Dark Knight's suit. "Papa…?" he asked in a drowsy voice.

Before the cowl was slipped on, Bruce turned to his son and gently petted his bed hair down. "Go to sleep, Tim. You and Alfred have a busy day tomorrow with your ready and writing lessons." He tucked his son into the bed and placed the covers back over his son's form.

"There's news about Dick…?" questioned the child while a yawn came from his lips at the end of his question. His father nodded and turned off the lamp light located on the nightstand and moved to the opposite nightstand where Tim's night light was temporarily placed in his room. He turned it on and a nightlight of the batman symbol dimly illuminated the room.

"Yes, Tim. There is; I'll be back as soon as I can." He was walking to the door before he stopped. Tim was back asleep holding onto a stuff animal of a panda bear Bruce bought him at the Metropolis Zoo when Clark took his son and himself there. He didn't know what came over him; thankfully he was still Bruce Wayne, so he allowed this impulse to take over him. Like a ripple in the night, the Dark Knight walked over to his son and placed a small kiss to the four-year-olds forehead, "Sleep well, Tim." With that he disappeared to the Bat cave where his personal teleportation device was waiting for him to beam up to the Watchtower.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

The Watchtower was not as busy as it should have been while it hovered over a wide awake Europe. However, when the two Green Lanterns appeared on the teleportation pad, it suddenly came to life. Nurses working on the station rushed over to help the tired hero of Oa to a gurney that would lead him to the medical wing. They rushed off and John Stewart was left informing Superman, Green Arrow, the Flash, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, and the Batman on what Hal Jordan told him.

After he was done, the Dark Knight spoke up. "Is Hal awake?" a person viewing the medical wing turned to him with a nod. "Yes sir. He is still awake; trying to get out of the wing." Superman smiled, despite the situation and replied, "Tell them to make him wait, a few of us will be down there in a minute."

The Man of Steel and a few others heroes made the three level walk down to the medical wing where Hal Jordan was brushing off a nurse that wanted to administer an I.V to help him recover his health. "No thank you! I need to talk to Batman and Green Arrow." He said while shaking off a nurse.

Superman made his way over to his friend and smiled at the nurse, "Excuse us. We're only going to be a moment," she nodded and left the I.V there; a sign that he will not escape the treatment.

Oliver Queen, or the Green Arrow, was the first to speak, "John told us you said it was Artemis and Robin. Are you sure?" if it were any other situation, Hal would have snapped at Oliver questioning him, but he knew the female archer was his new protégé, so he let it slide.

"Yes, Robin even identified Artemis by her name." he replied; turning to Superman and Batman, he continued, "They are already under the influence of the Mind Link. They robbed the bank like Manipulus wanted them to and Artemis… she… She tried to kill me."

A thick silence enveloped the wing as all the heroes took in that information. The Flash was the one who spoke up, "No way. That can't be! They are heroes, how can they allow a piece of junk tell them what to do?"

Green Lantern frowned at the speedster and responded dryly, "When you have an arrow with a sharp tip pointed at your head, then you can debate with me about whether or not she meant to kill you." He turned his attention solely to the Dark Knight.

"She was going to kill me, but Robin stopped her. He even identified her by Artemis and they had different titles. They called themselves different names; Robin was called 'Nobody' and Artemis was 'Pandora'."

Superman glared at the ill news and stated, "He is turning them into criminals and all we have is this confirmation that they are being conditioned!"

A page from the bridge silenced everything in the medical wing. "The Watchtower just received a message from Manipulus." Martian Manhunter stated over the comm.

The heroes turned to rush out of the medical wing, but Superman stayed behind and said to the nurse, "Make sure he gets plenty of rest and he is not allowed out of here until you give him clearance." He said and left; as he flew down the hallway he heard from Hal, "Damn you, Clark!" and hid a smile from everyone else.

When he arrived on the bridge, J'onn already queued the video on a separate screen that told the Man of Steel that they already made a copy like Batman did last time. The Martian Manhunter turned to his leader, "Due to the different time zones, it has been noted that five hours from California and our position over Europe has passed." He spoke and waited for Clark's go ahead; when he received it, he played the video.

The same pixilated footage was playing again, and that same sickeningly calm voice sounded from the video. _"Good evening members of the Justice League, this is Manipulus again. I assume you all know of the news of my new children. They slipped up and ran into the Green Lantern; don't worry, they will be punished for their mistakes, but right now I want you all to know that I am prepared to state my new plans to go to Chicago, Illinois to the S.T.A.R Labs and to steal more technology to further my grand performance to showing the world my power. But there is a difference in this act. I will not be attending this meeting. Nobody and Pandora will be going in my stead. Good luck trying to stop them."_

The visual of Manipulus moved out of the camera's angle, but it was still playing. The pixilated view point was removed and the video jostled as the camera was removed from its tripod. It jiggled around for a moment before it showed the viewer's something different than a distorted face.

The Justice League members froze in their place as they saw Robin and Artemis lying against two medical gurneys while being restrained by thick belts. Manipulus did not appear again, but his voice sounded through the room as doctors moved close to the immobile, but conscious teens.

_"Pandora, what did you do wrong on the mission?"_ Artemis did not move as the doctors readied a syringe over her right arm. She answered back calmly, _"I did not kill the Green Lantern on the mission when I was told to do so."_ A light chuckle came from behind the camera and Manipulus replied, _"Good girl. At least you know what you did wrong. Now take your punishment and say 'hello Green Arrow and the Justice League!'" _he encouraged.

_"Hello Green Arrow and the Justice League." _She repeated. Oliver's grip on his bow tightened and he glare at the screen. _"Do it,"_ ordered their new enemy and the doctor injected something into her vein located at the junction where her forearm met her upper arm.

A moment passed before her body began seizing. She shook and convulsed painfully against the restraints and the doctor's hold for what seemed like eternity, but it was really only two long, agonizing minutes. After words, Artemis's form slumped against the table and she passed out.

They knew they could not bring themselves to turn it off because even though the two teenagers were being tortured, it meant that they were still alive and perhaps something in the footage will tell the Justice League where this bastard was.

The camera turned to face Robin was lying on his gurney with no reaction to the torture that Artemis just underwent and Manipulus spoke to him now; Batman felt his gloved hand clenching tightly shut and if anyone was facing him, they would have seen a glare that could have scared the devil.

_"Now Nobody, what is it that you did wrong? Pandora would have killed the Green Lantern if…?"_ the paused told everyone watching that Robin was going to answer the question. _"I stopped her from killing him since our mission was complete and we had only seconds left before the security system was reactivated."_ Manipulus let out a sound similar to a parent scolding a child, _"Tsk, tsk, tsk. I am very disappointed in you, Nobody, but I guess you were correct in your reasoning. You couldn't waste time, right?"_ Robin shook his head, "No sir." He replied.

Manipulus's voice suddenly changed as he growled, _"Then why did you call Pandora by her old title? You called her Artemis! SHE IS NOT ARTEMIS, SHE IS PANDORA!" _he shouted. All Robin could say in return was, "I'm sorry sir. It won't happen again."

Silent seconds passed and soon, Manipulus recovered, _"You're right, Nobody; it will not happen again."_ A nurse came and unzipped his suit from the front and parted it so his chest was seen. She returned to his side with a gel and she applied the clear gel to his upper and torso and also where his rib cage ended.

"Oh my God…" whispered Batman as he realized what was about to happen to his son. When the nurse left his side another came and attached him to a heart monitoring device.

Other members of the Justice League stood watching the video waiting for the unknown horror to be unleashed onto their friend's protégé. A doctor appeared by Robin's side with two rectangular paddles and rubbed them together, "Charged at 300 joules, Doctor." A nurse from our of the camera's view said The said doctor nodded and said one word before everyone knew what was about to happen.

"Clear."

The defibrillator paddles were placed on the right side of his upper chest and on the lower side of the left rib cage. Robin's body pushed up against the strong electric current and a second later he fell onto the table with the heart monitor letting out a single long note, "beep."

Nobody died.

Manipulus's voice was heard again and he ordered, _"Bring him back now."_ The doctor held out an open hand where upon the nurse placed a large needle and gave it to her superior in the room.

He positioned his hand over Robin's heart and stabbed him with the syringe. Wonder Woman gasped and the Flash shivered; Batman remained eerily calm.

The epinephrine, or medical adrenaline, was pushed into the thirteen year olds body and a few moments later Robin fought against his leather shackles as his body gasped for breath; he was alive.

The video pixilated again and Manipulus reappeared in the camera's viewpoint. It was placed back on its tripod and he began speaking again, _"I told you all they would be punished. I look forward to when you meet them again." _He moved to turn off the camera, but stopped himself. _"I'm only going to tell you the place where they will hit, but not when. Have a good day or night."_ The video cut off and the screen turned black.

A moment later the link was deleted and the Watchtower was silent due to the disturbing footage they just saw.

Green Arrow abruptly left the bridge with Black Canary following him; no one bothered to stop him.

Batman stood from his seat and left as well; Superman followed his best friend off the bridge and to the teleportation pads. "Are you going to tell the Young Justice Team about the new discovery?" he asked quietly.

The Dark Knight nodded in a "yes" motion and Superman asked another question. "Are you going to show them a video?" another nod was his silent reply.

Clark Kent stood next to Bruce Wayne as they waited for the teleportation device to send them to Mount Justice. "Are you going to be able to hand over the mission to the Young Justice team?"

He received no answer and Superman knew he was going to have to make the Dark Knight allow his "son" and the other teenage heroes to save Artemis and Robin from their prison; even if Batman did not want to let go.

They were beamed into the mountain where the four young heroes were waiting for any news regarding their friends; the news finally came.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

**Chinese Fairy:** Woooo! I'm done! I am so sorry about the shocking scene at the end, but since the control freak is a _control freak _there was no way he was going to let a small slip up go; the jerk! Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this and come back for the next installment which will be up as soon as possible.

Please excuse any errors, it still has not been beta'd and I hope you all enjoyed it!

Take care~!


	4. Chapter 4

**Pawns Can Feel Too**

**Chapter 4**

**Chinese Fairy: **Wow, a lot more people favorite-ed and review-ed… I feel overwhelmed; sorry, I'm not just whelmed right now. I wanted to give a shout out thank you to "**TheNightwingfan**"!

You have no idea how much I love your reviews! You make me feel so happy to open my e-mail account and see that you have reviewed my story. Your questions and comments make me feel important and honestly, you give me ego boosts! Thank you for that and thank you everyone else who has made me get off my lazy writer ass and actually work on more stories!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Young Justice" it belongs to Warner Bros. and D.C Comics. . As per last chapter, nothing has changed and I do not now magically own the rights. If you didn't get the memo from the last three chapters and two one-shot stories, nothing has changed!

**Warnings:** Action scenes, slight swearing, and some blood. There won't be torture in this chapter, but still the norm applies!

As usual, I hope you all like this chapter as much as the other ones!

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

**Pawns Can Feel Too**

**Chapter 4**

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Just before a storm begins to rage, there is a calm; everything is normal. The weather is nice; it promises a good day. It's almost as if a serene moment is enveloping the world and then it strikes.

_"Do it," ordered their new enemy and the doctor injected something into her vein located at the junction where her forearm met her upper arm._

Kid Flash paled as the doctor drew close to his friend and arguing buddy.

_A moment passed before her body began seizing. She shook and convulsed painfully against the restraints and the doctor's hold for what seemed like eternity, but it was really only two long, agonizing minutes. After words, Artemis's form slumped against the table and she passed out._

Megan clung to Superboy's arm and hid her face from the horror of seeing her best friend injured and tormented.

_A nurse came and unzipped his suit from the front and parted it so his chest was seen. She returned to his side with a gel and she applied the clear gel to his upper and torso and also where his rib cage ended._

Aqualad clenched his hands into fists in order to prevent himself from screaming as his teammates were abused; he knew Robin was going to be punished; Kaldur was not one to underestimate an enemy or question a threat.

_The defibrillator paddles were placed on the right side of his upper chest and on the lower side of the left rib cage. Robin's body pushed up against the strong electric current and a second later he fell onto the table with the heart monitor letting out a single long note, "beep."_

Conner felt every single cell in his body freeze as he watched his best friend died. A sob escaped the Martian as she began crying. _"How could this happen?"_ she screamed in her mind.

_The epinephrine, or medical adrenaline, was pushed into the thirteen year olds body and a few moments later Robin fought against his leather shackles as his body gasped for breath; he was alive._

Manipulus spoke again, but none of the Young Justice teammates really paid attention to what their enemy was saying after he ordered the doctors and nurses to "punish his children". The video went dead and that momentary calm swept into the room.

Then came the storm. "HOW CAN HE DO THIS TO THEM?" roared Kid Flash as he stomped his foot into the ground to emphasize his feelings of outrage. Superboy numbly pulled out of Megan's hold and closed the copied video link and then with a lack of finesse, his fist rammed into the 50,000 dollar customized computer.

Aqualad bit his lower lip and paid no mind as blood began oozing from his self-inflicted injury. _"Guilt will not help them or us. Guilt will not help them or us."_ He chanted in his head; there was no point in him playing the blame game now when his friends needed a leader.

Superman and Batman watched the teenagers act out what they both inwardly wanted to do as well. Superman continued staring at his clone as Conner removed his barely injured hand from the carnage that remained of the computer. Batman was watching as Kid Flash stomped on the floor and Aqualad continued biting his lower lip in an attempt to control reign in their emotions.

"_They're doing better than I thought,"_ Clark thought as he saw Megan wipe away the tears from her eyes and sniffled slightly; she was trying so hard to control her emotions that it almost pained him.

Finally, after five minutes passed, the Young Justice Team all turned to the two greatest superheroes on earth and Kaldur'ahm spoke, "When do we leave for Chicago?"

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Manipulus smiled a child-like grin as he watched a faceless secretary counting his money and placing it into his personal vault. _"I was right, those two are going to make me rich!"_ he cheered inwardly.

"_Everything is going better than ever; not only did the Mad Hatter's tip of the Mind Link prove fruitful but, the damn lunatic was too late to steal it before me!"_ the villain smirked now as he picked up a stack of hundreds and began fanning his face with the nonexistent breeze.

_"Now I will be upgrading my children by stealing the nanotechnology from the S.T.A.R Labs in Chicago and once I upgrade them, the chip I placed at their C-1 vertebrae will change from near replication to I will have full control of both Nobody and Pandora! Not even Dr. Fate or the Martian Manhunter will be able to save their minds!"_ he began chuckling and soon it turned into a hysterical laughter that made his secretary flinch in her counting.

"It has already been two days since my children have returned," he stated to her; she looked up to him and nodded. Manipulus continued, "How are they healing from their wounds?" he asked.

The nameless young lady picked up her clipboard and read the notes from the doctor's last call. "Both Nobody and Pandora are both above 70 percent functional; Nobody is at 87 percent completely healed and Pandora is settled closer to 81 percent." She relayed; he nodded and turned his chair to swivel and face the grand view he owned from his office.

"Good, call up the doctors and tell them to prep my children for battle; they are going to go get me my brand new updates." He ordered; the young adult bowed once in respect for her boss and then left the room as quickly as she could. "Freak…" she murmured under her breath and scrambled to do as she was told.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Nobody was lying on a cot that was placed in "room" for him to rest on; since there has been no orders, his instincts told him to rest, so now he found himself staring at the ceiling with dead eyes.

"_I failed master… I failed my team, my ex-teammates, what am I doing wrong? Why did I stop Pandora from killing Green Lantern? He was the enemy who got in our way; his life was forfeited the moment he did so… WHY!"_ his body remained in its position as his mind raged on with the unanswered question.

For the last 38 hours, Nobody has been resting in something one of the doctor's called a "healing pod" and it proved a correct name since his body did not hurt as much. Two males nurses brought him back her a few hours ago and he was finally left alone. _"I'm not sure if it is a good thing… I'm going insane in this mental cell with different thoughts pouring through my mind. I didn't want Art- Pandora to kill Green Lantern… Was that me or the chip…? It was me." _He thought as his blue eyes covered by his mask counted how many nicks were in the ceiling.

A part of him jolted his body in a muscle spasm, and his thoughts continued, _"The chip is not perfect, it has a slight weakness, which means I, Robin, can get out of this cage!"_ his consciousness was breaking through the prison Manipulus thought neigh impossible to break. His form continued to lie still as his true consciousness began struggling against the chip connected to the Mind Link.

"_ARTEMIS!"_ he screamed in his mind and two cell doors down, the archer flinched awake.

_"Nobody?" _She called tentatively in her mind, _"Nobody is that you?"_ he replied quickly, _"No Artemis, I'm Robin. You are Artemis! The chips are not perfect; we can break free from the Mind Link! Just focus on something from our true consciousness!"_ he ordered.

Pandora slowly stood from her huddled position on the floor and leaned against the cold cement wall. _"Remember… Remember something that is the real me."_ Thought the blonde archer as she fought against the restraints that held back Artemis and not the placid Pandora.

_"THINK!"_ she ordered herself and something flickered in her mind, a young man with flaming red hair and dazzling blue eyes. Both his eyes and his lips were smiling at her. _"Wally, KID FLASH!" _She cried out in joy as she felt Artemis rising to the surface of the muddled mind control.

Artemis and Robin were waking up.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Still in his leather chair, Manipulus nearly cried out in shock as he felt the raging storm of emotions flowing from his children's rooms. "NO! This can't be!" he roared; the man flew from his fancy office to the elevator where it dropped him down to the fourth level of his underground complex and he ran out. The hallway was thin, but on the right side of the corridor was a break room where doctors, nurses, and guards could rest for a little while.

Manipulus opened the door and ordered to them, "The children's true consciousnesses are waking up! Come and help me!" he all but screamed.

The three doctors and six nurses quickly rushed to follow their employer as he ran down the hallway and took a right at the fork in the passage.

The group found themselves in the prison cells that the villain kept calling his "children's rooms" and the group split into two groups. Two doctors and four nurses rushed into Pandora's room and grabbed a hold of her to place her on her bed.

Immediately, she began struggling and screaming. "No! No, I don't want to be erased again!" the archer begged as she glanced at one of the doctor's and saw him pull out a syringe from his white lab coat.

"NOOOOO!" Artemis screamed as she felt the sedative instantly taking hold of her and she was once again dragged down into the darkness that confined her and simultaneously, Pandora's created mind by the wicked hands of Manipulus reappeared. Pandora's eyes blinked open at the doctors and nurses that held her down and with her same monotone voice she spoke, "Artemis has been sedated; Pandora is conscious."

The nameless doctors and nurses glanced at one another and nodded; they removed their hands from their patients form and took a few steps back. Pandora shook her head to test how "clear" her mind was and she smiled a ghost of a grin when Artemis's voice did not sound in her mind.

Manipulus took the other doctor and two nurses into Nobody's room and saw the defiant gaze of the Boy Wonder staring him down. "You won't get another chance to place me back into that prison. I won't let you!" he charged towards the exit and his captor pulled out a tranquilizer gun to fire it, but he missed the teen that slid through a miniature forest of legs to get past the crowd of people.

Robin was free from his cell and he sprinted down the hall, "Artemis! Artemis are you here?" he shouted. He was met with Pandora walking out of her room with a syringe in her right hand. One of the doctors gave her the weapon that will take down the Boy Wonder.

Manipulus strolled out of the room and into the hallway to smile at Robin. "I may not get the chance to get you back, but your teammate may have a better chance." He offered. The metal Mind Link on his head flickered a white light and he commanded mentally, "Pandora, apprehend your brother before he hurts himself."

The said archer ran towards her teammate and grabbed a hold of his left upper arm. He broke free and attempted to perform a back flip that would give both heroes some distance, but she met him for each flip.

When Robin righted his form to turn and run, he cried out in pain as Pandora's fingers laced around his neck in a suffocating hold. Before he could cry out in protest, she stabbed his right arm with the needle and the drug flowed into his bloodstream.

Robin fell to the floor with a "thud" and the doctors moved to wait for Nobody to appear.

Just like Pandora taking over Artemis, Nobody sat up from his place on the floor and shook his head just like Pandora; in order to test and see if the Boy Wonder would appear again to try and break free.

A smile ghosted upon Nobody's lips as Robin was once again silence.

Manipulus moved to stand closer to Nobody and Pandora and slapped them both on the cheeks. The force of his blows sent both passive forms to the floor and neither moved to nurse their now swelling cheeks.

"Don't ever let them beat you again. Your minds are connected to the chips and if they fail before I can obtain the nanotechnology then all of this would be meaningless. KEEP YOUR MINDS ON THE GOAL!" he shouted at them.

Pandora and Nobody nodded and replied in a dead voice, "Yes, sir."

Turning away from his children, the villain zeroed in his gaze to his medical team and growled out, "Get them prepped and ready to fly to Chicago. I want them to leave the moment a schedule is made at the airport." He ordered and walked away from his children and his worthless medical team.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

"Bruce, you have to let them handle it. It was their teammates that were taken and it is their responsibility to get Robin and Artemis back. You following them will destroy all the trust and effort everyone has put into the Young Justice Team." Said Superman as Batman was placing gadgets and weapons into his utility belt.

"Last time I left my son's life in their hands, he was taken by that son of a bitch. I cannot trust them to save him." Stated the Dark Knight in a tone that left no room for discussion.

The Man of Steel shook his head, "You have to! You know Robin believes in them. If your son can trust his team like the several missions before this one, I think he will continue believing in them! Bruce, you have to let him go and be his own person-"

An icy tone took over the Batman as he hissed out, "Last time I allowed one of my son's to 'be his own person', he turned into Red Hood and went on a killing spree in Gotham! I had to apprehend my own son and I failed in a moment of-" Batman cut himself off. Superman did not speak and the armory fell silent.

Batman never showed weakness of a fault, _"This is showing just how unhinged Bruce is right now."_ Thought the Kryptonian as he continued the staring contest with a glaring Dark Knight.

"You will wait here for them, Batman. You need to let them handle this situation by themselves. You and I both know that this team can handle it." He offered a smile, clearly ignoring the death glare radiating from his best friend.

"When a person is fighting to get someone they care for back, their powers can become limitless; it can grow into something greater than anything in this universe."

Batman abandoned his belt on the counter and stalked off. Clark Kent's smile grew; he won for now.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Aqualad, Miss. Martian, Kid Flash, and Superboy were walking to the docking bay that held their friend's Bio-Ship and were all startled when they saw Superman waiting for them by the resting ship.

He nodded to all of them and spoke, "Batman is taking a moment to himself so I will be seeing you all off." They nodded and Megan moved closer to her ship in order to wake it from its slumber.

With the swift motion of her hand, it opened up like a tulips opening it petals to a sunny day and the team began filing into their mode of transportation.

Superboy was the last the step onto the pad and stopped when Superman spoke, "Good luck, Conner."

Those words made the clone smile and he glance back to the Man of Steel, "Thanks." His one word reply made Clark smile and the young man walked deeper into the ship.

The Bio-Ship's ramp closed and it lifted off the bay floor and like a shooting star, it flew through the night quickly and only someone looking up at that second could have seen it disappear into the night.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

With an hour drained from the day, it was already late and dark in the city of Chicago. The nightlife was in the clubs and downtown district and thankfully, the S.T.A.R Labs was on the opposite side of the city; it also proved to be a portion of the area that no one came through unless they were leaving work to go home.

An hour after landing the ship onto a random roof, the Young Justice team noticed that all traffic of coming in and out of the area ceased. The five-block radius was clear of anyone.

Each Metahuman from the teenage hero group was situation at the four main directions of the laboratory. Kid Flash was situated at the East entrance, which was the longest wall, but the speedster could maintain his perimeter.

Megan was floating near the South point of the building that was the closest to the Bio-Ship incase they managed to catch their friends and she needed to fly her ship over to the designated meeting zone.

Superboy was pacing the West wall of the facility; he was impatient and counting the seconds that passed and there was no show of Robin or Artemis. _"Where are they?"_ he demanded mentally and a flicker of guilt passed him when he felt everyone heard what he growled in the mental link they all shared.

Aqualad was perched in the shadows of the Northern part of the S.T.A.R Labs building waiting for his two teammates to show up, _"Let's remember that we do not know when they will appear. We knew where they will strike, but Manipulus said we will not be told the 'when'."_ He stated mentally and everyone gave an inward reaction of understanding.

Superboy pause his pacing when he heard something weird reverberating off his wall; looking up, his eyes widened at the sight. _"THEY'RE HERE!"_ he shouted in the mind chat room and all heroes turned their attention to the direction of an approaching helicopter.

"_They are going to drop in via the roof! Hide yourselves for now and once the helicopter leaves, we will go in and get them!"_ ordered Aqualad and they all allowed the shadows of the building hide them from sight of the metal bird in the air.

Two lines were dropped from the helicopter and the two heroes slipped down from their respected rope and touched down onto the roof. From their communicators the pilot spoke, "I will be back in twenty minutes, Manipulus said that that will be enough time for you to go in and get his equipment."

They nodded and Nobody swung his left arm outward, the signal for the pilot to leave now. The ropes they dropped down on fell to the roof and the metal bird left them to their mission.

Their mission has begun.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Similar to the mission in Coast City, both slipped into the twelve-story building like shadows and managed to reach the presidential office where blue prints were should to be stored.

As Nobody turned on the computer, Pandora kept a look out for anything out of the ordinary. Like flawless dancers, his fingers danced over the keyboard and his domino mask hid his dead eyes that scrolled the monitor. "Here, on the second floor; there is a lot of equipment stored and on the same level is a lock down area." He reported; she nodded and both left the room.

With hardly any security on the upper levels, Nobody and Pandora used the emergency stairways that lead them to the second floor. Without any noise, the pair used the shadows to move through the floor and after a few moments of searching, they found a sign that read,

**WARNING NO ADMITTANCE TO ANYONE WITHOUT PROPER CLEARANCE**

Both ignored the warning and the hacker of the Young Justice team connected his portable computer to a USB junction and began deactivating the security cameras to the specific floor; rerouting power to floors three and one; and disarming the computerized lock that barred them from their master's prize.

Mere seconds passed before the red light adjacent to the door turned green and that was also their "go ahead" sign.

The heroes walked into the larger room and Pandora's lithe fingers found the light switch that illuminated the room. Cases upon cases were filled with technology, files, and several unnamed objects were lining walls and isles were constructed with the said items.

"Search for file or project 'SPYDER'," said Pandora and they split up taking opposite walls and allowing their mind controlled gazes to scroll over each name. Minutes ticked by before Nobody called over his partner.

"I found it," he called loud enough for her to hear it in the large room. She rushed over to his side and he pulled from the shelf a small metal box that was a compact as a briefcase. On the side of the case in fine print was the word "SPYDER" written in black bold letters.

"Mission complete," he added and they ran out of the room. Nobody and Pandora were running up the stairs to the roof when suddenly something whisked past them with the briefcase taken from Pandora's hands.

Kid Flash appeared at the 10th floor level with a grin on his lips, "Hey guys. I was wondering when Aqualad was going to let me see you both. I missed you guys," his smile was tinted with sadness, but nothing else was expressed. Nobody pulled out his batarangs and Pandora placed an arrow in the nocking point of her bow.

His smile vanished and he murmured, "You guys really have been brainwashed…" his gaze never left their forms as they inched closer to their enemy.

"I will ask this of you only once," spoke Nobody, "Get out of our way or we will kill you like the inferior being that you are." He quoted Manipulus and Wally shivered at the dead tone of his friend's voice.

"You guys don't mean that." The speedster stated with confidence in his soft voice. Pandora took this chance to fire a sharp pointed arrow at her enemy and Kid Flash did not move as it neared his face in slow motion. If he wanted to, he could just evade the oncoming attack, but he stood there until the last moment.

_"NO!" _screamed something in Pandora and her form fell to its knees. Wally saw this and finally sidestepped the deathblow that was millimeters from his face. The arrow was now embedded in the wall behind him. Nobody immediately took the chance to charge at his enemy, but two large hands grabbed him from behind and now held him by his upper arms.

He struggled and strained to get free, but no matter how much he tried, Superboy did not let go of his friend. "How… did you sneak up on me?" the Boy Wonder as he continued to try and escape.

Conner replied in a soft voice, "You were too busy watching Kid Flash, that you missed me sneaking up on you," he smiled, "I snuck up on you. The Robin in you is probably rolling on the floor laughing at how crazy that sounds."

Pandora quickly armed another arrow and was about to fire it, when a whip in the form of channeled water caught her weapons and tugged them out of her hands. Aqualad was floating in midair thanks to Megan holding him up as she hovered by his side. "We all know you both do not want to do this. We know our friends are in there somewhere and if you come with us, we can save you both." Offered the Atlantean.

The archer tried to pull out an arrow from her quiver, but Kid Flash appeared by her side and placed a hand on her shoulder. It wasn't a jester of violence or a motion for him to attack, but an action that gave her body comfort.

Nobody's struggling was ebbing away as the young teenager realized that Superboy was going to let him go.

"**What are you two doing?"**demanded a voice in Nobody and Pandora's minds. In Cleveland, Manipulus was seeing everything that his children were feeling and he didn't like it one bit. _"Even with Pandora and Nobody commanding the bodies on my behalf, Robin and Artemis are still posing threats!" _He thought in a snarl.

**"GET FREE AND GET ME MY NANOTECHNOLOGY!"** he shrieked in his mind and the message was relayed via the Mind Link.

"Y… Yes, sir." They both whispered.

It happened instantly, not even Kid Flash saw the blurred movements with his eyes. Pandora pulled out a dagger in the shape of an arrowhead from her left armband and placed it to her left jugular.

Nobody popped his shoulder out of its socket and wriggled free from Superboy's hold, which loosened when the dislocation occurred. He then moved closer to his partner and positioned a batarang above his stomach. The Young Justice froze in horror as their teammates threatened their own bodies.

"Give us the briefcase now or we will kill the bodies of your teammates." Threatened Nobody; his voice left no room for any of the heroes to bluff.

"Don't do this," murmured the Martian weakly as she saw the blade in Pandora's hand inch closer to her throat.

"I'm sure you Metahumans are possibly faster than us, but would you want to gamble that on our lives? We can test it and see if Kid Flash or Superboy can grab a hold of us before my cut jugular causes my body to die from exsanguination or before an infection and a torturous death can claim Nobody's life." The said archer taunted them with a bone chilling smile that told the team that Artemis and Robin's lives we in their hands.

Kid Flash did not even glance at his leader before moving closer to the archer with his hands up and the briefcase being held up by his thumb.

"I will not allow you to hurt yourselves because I did not follow the threat you've presented us, but can I ask you one thing, Pandora?" he asked in a voice that was indifferent, which made Aqualad's concern become overshadowed by confusion.

The said archer stared at him for a moment before nodding, the speedster smiled and continued with his question. "Pandora was a woman from Greek mythology that was given a box to watch over it and it was never supposed to be opened. Out of curiosity, she opened that box and unleashed unto the world evil, malice, sadness, fear and any other bad feeling a person could ever imagine. She managed to close it and in that one motion, Pandora kept something in the box. Could you tell me what it was?"

Her lips instantly became dry and her throat felt constricted. She mumbled something and Wally smiled. _"Come back to me,"_ he thought. "I'm sorry, Pandora, I couldn't hear that; what was left in the box?"

Pandora's eyes began to water and in her monotone voice she answered louder, "Hope," her voice was cracking after that one word passed her lips, "Hope was left… in the box." The tears began rolling down her cheeks and her eyes blinked closed.

"Wally," she whispered and the speedster knew he had won back his arguing buddy. Artemis was coming back to him.

"Do you know why hope was left in the box?" he continued, completely ignoring Nobody and the rest of his team; all of his attention was on the archer. She shook her head.

"No." was her answer.

His smile grew as he responded in a warm voice. "No one truly knows why hope was left in the box, but everyone can practically agree that hope is one of the greatest gifts mankind can feel, but never hold like a possession."

Artemis wiped a trail of tears from her face and sniffled, "I can put stock on that idea any day." Kid Flash smiled in return and was above to bring her into a hug, when suddenly, Nobody made himself known again. He took the chance and yanked the case from Wally's relaxed grasp.

"I am Nobody and I know my story, you will not break me like you did Pandora." He stated, his domino mask shielded his eyes from view, but Megan could feel it; Nobody was losing control over Robin's subconscious and he was in a hurry to leave.

Without another word, the Boy Wonder sprinted up the stairs and out of sight. Aqualad and Superboy were following close behind.

"_Megan, you have to knock her out; Pandora is still in there and if Artemis is mentally weak, we can lose her again. Can you keep her asleep until we get back to the Mountain?"_ Kaldur questioned his telepath as he jumped five steps in one lunge and came even closer to his youngest teammate.

Megan nodded her head in a "yes" motion and added mentally, _"Yes, I can do that."_ She turned to Artemis and spoke the said order to her. "I am going to make you fall asleep in order to keep Pandora from coming back. When we get you to the base, I'm sure the Justice League can help you." She smiled in encouragement.

Artemis looked hesitant and turned to the redhead that gave her comfort even in the confinements of her controlled archer, Pandora.

Wally was smiling at her and spoke, "Please, let her allow you to sleep about that hope that is in that box right here." He motioned to her heart and grinned, "I'll be here for you and never let you go."

She smiled softly in return, "This really nice guy act is going to vanish when I get complete control over my body back, right?" Artemis asked with a growing grin.

Kid Flash grinned in return, "Hell yeah it is." Nodding with a smile adorning her lips the archer turned to face Megan and spoke, "Put me to sleep, then."

M'gann M'orzz moved closer to her friend and placed her cool hands to the warriors temples. Her fingertips began glowing and soon Artemis was enveloped by a darkness that did not scare her, but offered her mind a warm comfort that was stripped from her two weeks ago.

Her body was falling to the floor, but before it could even touch the cement flooring, Wally caught her and pulled her close. "I've got you, Spitfire. He will never get a hold of you again." He promised and hugged his friend; Megan stepped closer made it a group hug as she brought both of her friends into her arms.

"_We have her back…"_ and somewhere in her mind, she pleaded that Nobody would return to them as well.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

_"I have forty seconds before the helicopter comes back! I have to hurry!" _Nobody screamed in his mind as he kept jumping every other step in order to keep a reasonable distance between himself and his teammates.

Aqualad and Superboy were five steps behind the Boy Wonder and Conner thought in the mind connection, _"Why don't I just overtake him and hold him down long enough for you to sedate him?"_ he questioned his leader. They were half a flight of stairs away from the roof.

Kaldur replied in the link, _"Because if he still has the batarang in his hand, he could injure himself and we want to avoid that at all cost!"_

Nobody busted through the same door that he and Pandora entered from and they followed a few steps behind. The night air swirled around the teenagers as the stars glistened in the sky above. It would have been a beautiful night to star gaze, but none of them paid it any mind.

Nobody cursed under his breath as he realized that he was cornered on the roof. Turned to face his enemies, he smiled smugly, "I won this round, guys. Admit it." He mocked.

Aqualad shook his head and countered, "Then where is your helicopter? You are not on that transportation and still in our reach; we can take you down and break the Mind Link you have with Manipulus. This round is not over."

Nobody was going to reply, but Conner's gaze suddenly glanced to their left side where in the far distance was the helicopter; it was approaching.

He turned to his teammates and saw that both of them were ready to fight him. A smile graced his lips; pulling something out his utility belt, Nobody pressed a small black button and his indifferent expression morphed into a picture of pure terror.

In Cleveland, Manipulus cried out in agony as he flung off the Mind Link from his head. "DAMN YOU ROBIN!" he screamed and overturned his rich oak desk.

Nobody slumped to his knees and his hold on the object he pulled from his belt released the item and it scattered to the roof floor and stopped by Aqualad's foot. The Atlantean picked it up and gasped, "A frequency disruptor… When did you get your hands on one?" he asked his teammate.

Panting heavily, Robin, not Nobody answered, "A doctor slipped into my belt before Artemis and I left home base. I only have mere seconds." He smiled at his teammates a real smile; a smile that proved Robin was back.

"I cannot go back to Mount Justice with either of you." He said simply and it took both sixteen year olds a moment to comprehend what he was saying.

"NO!" roared Conner, "You have to come back with us! You beat the Mind Link, you can come back with us and the Justice League can finally help you!"

Robin shook his head and lightly replied, "I need to go back to where Manipulus is; give me one of the Young Justice tracking devices and I'll place it in my belt. Only the doctors handle it and I already know they are trying to help me escape." He held out a hand to Aqualad who was still wearing a mask of shock and horror.

"There has to be another way-" he began, but Robin interrupted him. "NO! You don't understand! Artemis and I do not know where point zero is; Manipulus always kept us unconscious when we leave the airport from wherever. Now I am the only chance for us to get him! You and I both know this is the only way, Kaldur!" he yelled at his leader; the helicopter was getting closer to their forms.

Superboy saw his leader moving from the corner of his eyes and gasped as Aqualad threw the Boy Wonder his tracking device. "You cannot actually agree with this insanity!" he growled.

Kaldur'ahm stared into those eyes covered by the domino mask and said, "In my heart I do not want to do this, but as a hero and someone who has to think for everyone, I will agree with Robin and allow him to go back in order for us to apprehend Manipulus."

Superboy was about to scream when Robin turned to gaze into those blue eyes that were often too expressive. "Conner, this is the only way to stop him. Believe in me like how I believed in the team when I was submerged in the darkness that is the Mind Link."

The said clone did not have a response for that statement and watched numbly as Robin pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it at their feet. It exploded just as the helicopter reached the roof and someone threw down a ladder.

Before he grabbed the ladder, the youngest member of the Young Justice shouted over the noise of the helicopters spinning blades, "The chip that controls Artemis is located at her C-1 vertebrae, so watch out!" he shouted.

The smoke cleared as the metal bird left the Chicago S.T.A.R Labs and as promised, Robin was gone.

Superboy sank to his knees and began brutally punching the roof into a concave surface. "Damn it… How could we have let him go…?" He asked his leader, Aqualad could not even find the words to express an excuse.

"HOW COULD WE HAVE WILLINGLY LOST ROBIN TO THAT SON OF A BITCH?" he yelled and no one answered the question that tormented both of them.

The only one who could give a real answer was now flying back to Chicago O'Hare International Airport that had a flight scheduled to take off in thirty minutes with Cleveland, Ohio as the destination.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

The doctor in the helicopter took in the damaged body in front of him and glanced at the pilot; he was not listening to anything that was going on behind him. "Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked the teenager;

Robin, not Nobody replied, "The hero in me cannot allow Manipulus to do as he pleases anymore. I will go back to him and wherever I end up is where my teammates will be to save me from this stupid move."

His gaze turned towards the bright lights that could have been mistaken for a sunrise, but it was the illumination of the airport. To everyone arriving or departing from Chicago, it was a light that guided the planes; to him it was a bright neon sign that read,

"_Flight back to Hell for a robin…"_

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

**Chinese Fairy: **YEAH! I completed another chapter and I hope it will make a lot of people cheer! (I REALLY HOPE!) it has mega progress in the plot and more interaction with our heroes!

I hope you all enjoyed it! Excuse any mistakes please; I still do not have a beta helper… I'm lazy don't hate me for that!

READ, REVIEW, ENJOY AND I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER!


	5. Chapter 5

**Pawns Can Feel Too**

**Chapter 5**

**Chinese Fairy:** … My goodness, what did I do to get so many awesome reviewers? I didn't make a deal with Dr. Fate, did I? … (Glances around)

Anywho, I'm glad you are all enjoying the story and here is the next chapter! You can thank school for the loner delays in chapter updates!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Young Justice" it belongs to Warner Bros. and D.C Comics. . As per last chapter, nothing has changed and I do not now magically own the rights. If you didn't get the memo from the last four chapters and three one-shot stories, nothing has changed!

**Warnings:** Action scenes, slight swearing, and some blood. There WILL be torture in this chapter since Robin broke the rules and Artemis escaped; Manipulus won't be happy… THAT WARNING IS BACK UP!

As usual, I hope you all like this chapter as much as the other ones!

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

**Pawns Can Feel Too**

**Chapter 5**

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

It took all of the team's strength not to follow the helicopter that took their youngest member away, but Aqualad kept everyone on the same page with the order of returning Artemis back to Mount Justice where Red Tornado was waiting for their call, so he could transport a medical team into the base.

Megan was once again pushing her Bio-Ship to its limits and it was protesting as it cut through the wind currents that usually aided its flight pattern.

Wally held his arguing buddy close; he was not going to let her get away from him again and the way she nuzzled her face in the crook of his neck told him that Artemis was not bothered by him holding her unconscious form.

Aqualad opened a channel to the mountain and he was informing Red Tornado about the new situation.

"We need a medical team that can perform surgery near the C-1 vertebrae…" he was cut off by the android, "I am sending you coordinates that will lead you to a S.T.A.R Labs that specializes in catch-all scenarios. It usually detains super villains, but it also has the latest up-to-date technology that can counter mostly anything a criminal creates." Latitude and longitude points appeared in front of Kaldur's eyes on the monitor as the coordinates for New Troy Island in Metropolis, New York depicted a 3-D rendering of the island in question.

"Alright, E.T.A is an hour and twenty minutes." Replied Aqualad and he closed the message system down. Glancing to his left, he immediately caught sight of the Kryptonian glaring at anything his eyes landed on; their eyes met and the Atlantean had to turn away from those blazing blue eyes.

"_This is where I'm glad he doesn't have the laser vision…"_ their leader thought gratefully as he swiveled his seat to face Megan, "I know the ship is already trembling under the air waves pressure, but can you speed her up? The sooner we get Artemis to S.T.A.R Labs, the sooner we can go retrieve Robin."

The female Martian nodded and shifted her hands on the two pearl white glowing spheres. "Hello Megan! We can ascend to 30,000 feet," she commented and the ship's point of view from the windows showed the ground shrinking; the sign of the craft flying higher into the sky. "We'll increase speed and arrive at S.T.A.R Labs in 45 minutes."

Aqualad reopened the channel to inform Red Tornado about the time change.

**_YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ_**

The Batjet was cutting through the Troposphere like a hot knife cutting through butter and he paid no mind to the metal plating groaning under the high speed.

Batman was glaring straight ahead as the clouds whisked past his plane; the dashboard informed him of the turbulence and the air currents that surrounded him and the Batjet's estimated time of arrival to New Troy Island was around fifteen minutes.

His glare shifted to the blurred night world on his right side and allowed his mind to seep into his repressed anger. _"Red Tornado only informed me of Artemis's condition, but not of Robin. If they failed to save him, I'm going to have ignore Clark's boy scout after school special crap and go save Robin myself."_ He glanced down to the controls of his Batjet and sped up his craft.

"I'm going to kill that bastard…" The Dark Knight hissed under his breath as he thought of committing the ultimate act that betrayed all that the League stood for as he envision his gloved hands crushing Manipulus's trachea.

**_YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ_**

As promised by the second message from Aqualad, the Bio-Ship touched down in front of the S.T.A.R Labs on New Troy Island at the estimated time. Kid Flash ran down the ramp and found a medical team waiting for Artemis and a gurney was locked next to a nurse.

A doctor with salt and pepper short hair approached him and spoke, "Hello, Kid Flash, my name is Doctor Eric Williams; I'm in charge of your friend's case, can you place her on the gurney and we'll take her in."

The speedster seemed hesitant to do as he was told and jumped slightly as he felt a hand placed on his shoulder; he glanced back and saw Aqualad nodded his head in encouragement. Wally used unconceivable care to place Artemis on the gurney and without another glance to the teenagers the medical team ran off into the building that towered over them all.

They stared off towards the entrance the team used with glazed eyes; all of them were glad to have one of their friends back, but they were still missing the Boy Wonder.

The wind around them sped up and Superboy looked up to see a glistening effect against the night sky; it was outlining a jet as the Batjet landed right next to the resting Bio-Ship. _"Great, not only did we lose robin, but we're going to have an angry bat on our hands." _The clone thought bitterly as he moved his gaze elsewhere and it stared off into the blackness of the ocean several feet away from his form.

Batman emerged from his craft and touched down onto the grassy land; his white cowl eyes zeroed in on the Young Justice team and with three long strides, he came to stand in front of them.

"Where is Robin?" his voice was cold; usually, his tone was indifferent or monotone, but now it held an edge to it. Aqualad knew that Batman knew robin was not with them.

The Atlantean took a brave step forward and replied, "Robin chose not to come with us and is now on his way back to Manipulus's base."

It sounded better in his mind, thought Kaldur as the shadows on the Dark Knight's face darkened and his form became rigid. "What," he began and if Megan thought his cold tone couldn't get worse, she was dead wrong.

It could be compared to hearing your own death sneak up behind you and she shivered as he continued, "Do you mean, he chose to go back to Manipulus?"

Superboy stepped forward and growled, "Exactly what he said; we both had Nobody trapped on the roof, but Robin broke free from Manipulus's mind control long enough to ask us for a transmitter before he jumped back onto the helicopter and left us on that damn roof!"

The clone of Superman was yelling by the end of statement and Kid Flash glanced down at the floor, _"I don't think this is going to get us back onto the Bat's good side."_ He thought as he looked back up and was shocked when he saw the same Batman that greeted them in the meeting room right before their team left on missions. The Dark Knight from a few second ago was gone.

Conner paused his glaring at Batman as he heard a soft "thud" against the Batjet, but shook it off; there are more important things to worry about now. _"It was probably the shell of the craft fixing itself after his flight…"_

Batman composed himself with the new information in mind and spoke, "… He knew we had to catch Manipulus before he tried to kidnap another hero… How long ago did you part with him?" demanded the Batman. Miss. Martian spoke up here, "Almost an hour ago."

He nodded and turned back to his jet; as he walked away, he ordered over his shoulder, "Go back to Mount Justice, Red Tornado is waiting for you. Martian Manhunter has agreed to come and watch over Artemis until Manipulus is incarcerated."

He was stopped by a disbelieving speedster, "ARE YOU FRIGGIN' KIDDING ME?" he shouted; the Dark Knight turned to glare over his shoulder and replied simply, "No."

Kid Flash did not let the glare deter him as he continued yelling, "We can track our friend and go save him, but you want us to 'go back to Mount Justice'? WE'RE NOT ABANDONING ROBIN AGAIN!"

The area in front of S.T.A.R Labs altered itself to reflect on the shocked feelings of Aqualad and Megan since they've never seen Wally so angry before; not even in their argument a week ago compared to his seething form now. An awkward silence filled with tension swallowed them all whole. Batman did not face the team as he said, "I will not tell you again; get back to the base and wait for further instructions."

Superboy broke into the one-sided conversation, "You can't just order us to leave him!" his glare matched Batman's and if he had his laser vision, Batman's cowl would be smoldering right about now.

"Yes I can," commented the Dark Knight, he turned to face the four teenagers, "I am in charge of giving you missions and your mission now is to return to Mount Justice."

Without waiting for them to respond, he closed the discussion and jumped back into his jet before lifting off and speeding into the pitch-black night.

In a bout of rage, Conner slammed his foot into the ground and once again concaved another surface; Megan engaged in a staring contest with the ground; Aqualad was gazing after the Batjet; and Kid Flash turned his attention to his leader.

"You know as well as I do, he is treating us like… SIDEKICKS!" he glowered at the title the teenagers were given and the bitter beginning of last Independence Day came into his mind.

"I've never seen all the sidekicks gathered together…"

"_Look, it's Batman's sidekick, Robin, right?"_

"_Oh! It's… Flash boy! … Or is it Flash Jr.?"_

"_Look it's Flash's sidekick, Speedy!"_

"_No, that's Green Arrow's sidekick."_

Sidekick. Sidekick! SIDEKICK!

"I bet it's not only just Batman who thinks like this too, the Justice League doesn't want us to get close to Manipulus because they think that he'll get us; they think we can't handle taking him down!"

Kid Flash was glaring, but Aqualad knew it wasn't at him; it was directed towards all the feelings of inadequacy. _"Even with us as a team; even though we have our own base… Everything the League has given us has been to see if we can function like they could…"_ the Atlantean voiced his thoughts, "They do not trust us to save Robin and they are scared that we may fall under Manipulus's mind control…"

Megan sensed their feelings and emotion pertaining to Independence Day and felt sorry for the speedster and Atlantean; they were still in the shadows of their mentors, while Superboy was just making some progress with Superman; even if there was some progress, the action of Batman from a few moments may have forced Superman and Conner's relationship to take several steps backwards. While all the boys on her team were placed in a tight spot, her uncle's main goal was for her to have as life on earth.

Superboy finally spoke, "You guys broke the rules before, you can do it again. This time, you'll have Megan and me with you. We're going to get Robin back with or without Batman's blessing. I know what both of you are thinking it and I'm not even the team's psychic."

A smirk crossed Wally's lips as he replied, "You bet your ass we are going to save him; but Megan," he turned to their fellow hero, "You don't have to come with us, it may be uncomfortable for you to go against what the whole League may want from us…"

His voice faded as the Martian's face expressed her determination, "I was able to save Artemis from falling back into Pandora's hold; I can do the same for Robin."

Aqualad spoke; his voice full of determination, a strong conviction, and confidence, "We're a team; we have saved one teammate and failed another… We will not fail him again." They all raced towards the Bio-Ship and Megan brought it back to life.

While she readied the ship for takeoff, Aqualad pulled up the G.P.S system that would allow them to track the transmitter that their youngest member had taken with him.

"Megan, get us to Cleveland, Ohio and try to break the sound barrier." He ordered and she smiled back, "Preparing to take off," her hands grasped onto the glowing spheres and the ship lifted off the ground and shot off into the sky. In a blink of an eye, they were out of sight for anyone on New Troy Island.

They were so involved with their conviction to save the Boy Wonder that they missed the man hiding in the shadows of the laboratory; once he stepped out from his hiding place, he pulled out a communicator and opened a channel, "Ollie? You wanted to know when they left New Troy Island, right?" spoke the man garbed in a red suit.

A response was quick, _"Yeah, Roy… Did you find out where they're going?" _Red Arrow glanced down at the laptop that was supported by a large trash bin and replied with a smirk, "Cleveland, Ohio. Once they get closer to the city, I'll be able to zero in on Manipulus's hideout; just like Aqualad."

He paused and added, "I'd say, get him before they do, but they'll beat you to it, Ollie."

A grunt of an acknowledgement was heard before Green Arrow replied, _"By the time they get to him, Manipulus will have a clear understand of the meaning of 'a fate worse then death'."_

Roy Harper, who was once Speedy and now known as Red Arrow disconnected from the channel with is ex-partner and opened up turned the dial to "Channel 5" on his communicator, "Hey Dinah, you there?"

A moment later, Black Canary's voice replied, _"Yeah, I'm here. Did you get a hold of Oliver?"_

He smiled a smug grin; it was fun playing mediator between Green Arrow and Black Canary, especially since Ollie didn't know. "Yeah, he's still in Chicago and he is on his way to Cleveland, Ohio. Manipulus is there." She voiced in return, _"Thanks Roy. It means a lot to me that you're helping me."_

His response was sincere, "You can pay me back by stopping him; taking down Manipulus is not Ollie's job." Roy cut off the conversation there and looked up to a few of the lit rooms in the S.T.A.R Labs building.

_"Black Canary will stop Ollie from getting there before Aqualad and the others. Batman is another story, but I can bet everything on the fact that my friends will prevail in this mission; they will be the ones who save Robin from that bastard."_ The archer who was playing all the members of the Justice League like a fine tuned flute, walked back into the shadows still smiling since he knew he's just granted the Young Justice Team a chance to stick it to everyone who ever thought them "sidekicks".

**_YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ_**

A flight from Chicago, Illinois to Cleveland, Ohio usually took and hour and a half to two hours, but with Manipulus updating his jets, Nobody made it back to his master's base in an hour.

He was unconscious from the time the jet took off from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to the time he came to in the same underground parking lot from the last mission.

Like the last mission, Manipulus and four burly nurses were waiting for him to get out of the vehicle. Nobody got out of the van with the doctor from the helicopter following him.

This meeting was different since Manipulus did not have that condescending smile on his lips like the previous mission; he was glaring daggers at his "child" and strolled over to the thirteen year old before backhanding him with his hand. Nobody fell to the floor with a grunt, but made no move to defend himself from his master.

Manipulus was gazing down at the teen like vermin and finally snapped, "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT GARBAGE IN CHICAGO?" he kicked the youth and his right foot collided with Nobody's left cheek. The villain did not stop kicking the brainwashed hero as he continued yelling.

"Not only did I lose Pandora, but you allowed Robin's conscious to overtake you! What good are you, you piece of trash?"

Nobody was lying on his side; every so often grunting or gasping as a kick hit him on his side or his torso, but he made no move to stop his master. That is how loyal the Mind Link made the body Nobody was inhabiting. Finally, the attacks stopped and the only sound in the garage was Manipulus's panting.

The doctor that escorted the youth to Cleveland finally had enough; this is not what he signed up for. Doctor Jarred Carmichael wanted to continue working on the Mind Link the same way he was working in S.T.A.R Labs before that fire seven months back.

He placed himself between Manipulus and Nobody before speaking, "That's enough! He's just a kid! He got you the SPYDER nanotechnology, you don't have to beat him!"

A gunshot rang out in the eerily silent area, as Manipulus held a handgun that he just used to end someone's life; it was still lightly smoking as he handed it to one of the nurses. "I know it was you who gave Robin that frequency disruptor… You thought I wouldn't notice because you frequently go into the vault where all the equipment is stored, but I had another doctor keep an eye on you; she had her suspicions."

Dr. Carmichael was bug-eyed as his hand found the hole in his chest; his hand slowly pulled away from the wound and he saw red covering his digits.

Nobody was sitting up when the doctor tumbled to the floor and the little life left in Jarred Carmichael disappeared. The mind controlled youth stared at the form of the man who tried to save him from the insane villain; _"WHAT DID HE EVER DO TO YOU?" _Robin screamed deep in the dark depths of his mind prison.

Manipulus turned to his child and he gasped when he saw tears rolling down Nobody's cheeks; he was crying over the loss of life. "What… What did he do to deserve death…?" the hero spoke in such a small voice that the nurses had to strain their ears to hear him.

The said villain ignored the little boy in front of him and moved closer to the dead doctor in order to take the metal briefcase that rightfully was his. Manipulus turned to a nurse and handed him the case. "Get this to the medical lab and tell those foolish doctors to prepare it. I want it ready as soon as possible."

The nurses, who were more loyal to their boss than the dead doctor on the floor, nodded and the single orderly who was offered the object left the garage with the nanites in hand.

Those stabbing green eyes of Manipulus zeroed in on the other three nurses and he continued, "Get the child into the operating room on the second floor," they all shared mutual looks of confusion and their employer noticed this.

With a cruel smile he clarified, "Yes, that is the same room where I punish my children. Nobody allowed that weak minded Robin to surface out of the Mind Link and he needs to be punished." His smile vanished as he barked out, "Get him there NOW!"

Two orderlies grabbed the dazed hero by his upper arms and dragged him out of the underground parking lot and to the elevator that would lead him to another seemingly endless torture.

The last nurse waited for his orders and he received them once the doorway Nobody exited through closed shut. Manipulus turned to him and said, "Get rid of that piece of trash on my garage floor; his blood is going to seep into the concrete."

Manipulus left the brunette nurse in that empty garage to move Dr. Carmichael and he strolled down the linear hallway to the elevator that would take him to the second floor where his misbehaving son was waiting for him.

**_YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ_**

Batman landed his Batjet on a lone building that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere on the outskirts of Cleveland, Ohio and opened up his portable computer that was located in one of the back pockets of his utility belt. He opened the device and typed commands into the small keyboard and nearly growled out loud.

The Dark Knight flung the device away from in a momentary lapse of rage. It couldn't locate Robin's tracking device; his eyes glared at the shattered equipment and thought to himself, _"It was working fine until I arrived in Cleveland. The moment I transferred the G.P.S system to my portable computer…"_ his eyes turned to the jet.

"Something is blocking the signal in my equipment… It only turned on after I arrived in Cleveland…" his eyes darted over the outer body of his Batjet.

He was going to be delayed in saving his son thanks to a minor setback. _"Whoever placed the blocking chip on my Batjet is going to pay dearly for this…"_ his thoughts seethed as he began searching every inch of his craft looking for the electronic device.

Out in the shadows of S.T.A.R Labs in New Troy Island, Red Arrow turned to his laptop that was beeping. He clicked it awake from sleep mode and stared at the screen for a few second before a grin graced his lips, "I guess Batman finally reached Cleveland; too bad it will take a him while to get my signal blocker out of his jet." He remarked to himself and turned his attention back to the sky.

Conner paused his glaring at Batman as he heard a soft "thud" against the Batjet, but shook it off; there are more important things to worry about now.

He smiled, "Only Superboy heard my device integrating into the shell of the jet…" he paused his inner musing and saw something flying towards the courtyard of the designated S.T.A.R Labs.

Martian Manhunter was flying towards the laboratory; _"Finally he's here… I was wondering if he was going to show up…"_

Roy Harper will never admit it to anyone, but he was also worried about the newest member of the Arrow family; Artemis was another hero who had something in common with him: they both are or were under the tutelage of Green Arrow or Oliver Queen.

His eyes darted back up towards the building and he hoped Artemis was doing okay.

**_YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ_**

In another part of Cleveland, Green Arrow touched down a Javelin aircraft that belonged to the Justice League. He used it to get to Chicago; he used it to follow the jet that had Robin; and now he found himself in the city that held Manipulus.

Just as he was exiting the aircraft, he came face to face with Black Canary.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone." He stated simply; she shrugged and replied airily, "And I thought I told you it wasn't going to happen. Ollie, you can't do this… I know you want to stop Manipulus, but you can't; let the League band together to take him down. Don't make this about you!"

His domino mask squinted together into a glare. "This isn't about me; this is about taking trash off the streets; he kidnapped two Young Justice teammates and is going to implant nanites into Robin. We don't have time to wait for the rest of the League!" he growled at her.

A delicate eyebrow rose at his attitude change and she replied coldly, "I got here in twenty seconds thanks to the teleportation system. Superman can fly _very_ fast and the Flash can run _very_ fast as well. Call for backup and let us all handle this together. How can we promote teamwork for the Young Justice Team when we all go our separate ways?"

Oliver Queen snapped, "I don't care what the League is trying to accomplish with the kids! I am getting revenge for ARTEMIS! SHE WAS BRAINWASHED AND TORTURED BY THAT BASTARD!" he took a second to add darkly, "I'm going to make sure he understands what happens to someone who crosses my path."

Dinah Lance sucked in a small breath before stated quietly, "You know that, that is not what Artemis would want you to do…" she stared into his mask. "You and I know that better than anybody."

Shock rippled through his face that resembled him being slapped, before his glare vanished instantly; Oliver's shoulder slumped forward like the weight of the world was just placed on to his back. He sank to his knees and his hands balled up into fists. "I wanted to take her far from that world we found her in… I just want to protect her from _them_," he couldn't voice anymore words. Black Canary moved closer to his defeated form and pulled him close.

"Let's do it together, then. If you won't call the League, let me go with you… At the very least, I can save your ass from any trouble you get into."

She pulled back and Green Arrow smiled weakly, "You always seemed to be watching out for Roy and me." He commented. Dinah heaved a sigh and replied, "Yeah, you two are helpless without me." She glanced down at a portable device that was carried by all League members and asked, "So, can you find his transmitter?"

Green Arrow showed her the computer and it spoke for itself; "Signal blocked."

A theory came together and a frown marred her face. "I think I know what's wrong… What is happening right now." He glanced at her and Oliver asked, "What's wrong?"

Black Canary presented him her idea, which was making more and more sense by the second. "Roy was keeping an eye on you for me and he was also helping you out as well… did he input the tracking software for your device as well?"

He nodded and his form turned rigid; _"He knew I would go off on my own and Black Canary would be the one to stop me… or at least help me."_ The image in his mind was coming together.

"Before I left for Chicago, Roy came to me and offered to help download the software to locate any transmitters that belong to our system… I thought I could follow the team and find Manipulus before they did…" his voice faded and she continued his line of speech.

"Since he gave you the software, I went to him as well to get the same update for my computer… He made sure neither of us could locate the team; We didn't anticipate that Robin would ask for a transmitter and the Young Justice team-" her voice abruptly cut off.

Green Arrow glanced at her horrified expression and his eyebrow rose under his mask. "Now what's wrong?" he questioned and Dinah replied in a soft tone, "Roy is helping the Young Justice team by blacking out Robin's signal for any Justice League member… They are going to save him!"

He asked quickly while still in disbelief "Are you sure? Batman ordered them to fall back to the Mountain." One unconvinced look from her answered his question. He let out an exasperated sigh, "Does Batman know?"

The female hero shrugged and replied, "If he came to Cleveland, how much do you wanna bet that his computer is also being blocked?"

They turned their gazes towards the large city that hid the man who preys on teenagers. The situation wouldn't get any worse! The Justice League was purposefully being kept in the dark and four teenagers were either running through the city or on their way to the city of Ohio dubbed "The Forest City".

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

It took a while, but finally, after twenty minutes of waiting, a cry ripped its way out of Nobody's throat.

Manipulus turned a dial on the console in front of him to the left and the soft humming of electricity diminished from the air. The man's green eyes followed the trail of electrical wires that lead into the limbs of Nobody whose body was still convulsing from the "trial and error" electro shock therapy.

The machine fell into rest mode as Manipulus leisurely made his way to the hero's side and he asked kindly, "Do remember what day it is?"

Nobody grunted as he lolled his head to one side, "Thursday… September… the…" his voice trailed off as he fell into unconsciousness.

Smiling, the said villain turned away from the restrained youth and spoke to the nurse in the corner of the room that was monitoring his child's stats. "Have we got a call as to how long until the SPYDER software is ready?" he asked and the faceless nurse replied after glancing at the screen on his left.

"A message was sent just now, the system is loading and will be ready in forty minutes." The smile on his lips grew into the same maniacal grin that appeared on his face whenever a hysterical laughter threatened to pass his lips.

"I can't wait…!" he chuckled and walked out of the room; over his shoulder, he stated, "Ah yes, take this time to patch up any wounds he might have gotten from my corporal punishment."

The said nurse nodded and pulled out a cart that was fully stocked with medical supplies; he moved closer to the slumbering teen and began tending to Nobody.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Batman's glare reached a new level singularity that could prove to be a weapon of its own as he glared into the sky. Superman was going to meet him in a few minutes to help him search across the city for his son, but even those few minutes seemed to last forever.

His hands clenched into fists as he inwardly fumed, _"I found the piece of crap signal blocker and it belongs to that DAMN Red Arrow!"_ he rigid form mirrored his unbalanced mind and thankfully, the Man of Steel appeared then to stop the Dark Knight's thought pattern from progressing into madness.

Superman touched down next to his friend with a smile on his lips, "I take it you couldn't get the signal blocker out of your jet?" he asked in a conversational manor; _"Keep his mind off of the saboteur…"_

Batman was now glaring at his ally and seethed out, "Not only did Red Arrow's device disable all my computers regarding the tracking system, but if I try to remove it, it will crash the entire system in my jet… He is keeping me from finding Robin." He toned down his glare and noticed the Kryptonian holding something, "Did you bring me the new portable device?"

Clark nodded and offered the computer to the Dark Knight. "Yeah, it should be able to lock onto any transmitter that the Young Justice members have on their persons."

Batman turned on the device and typed in the same command that initiated the citywide search.

His finger froze over the keyboard; Superman noticed his friend's sudden change and asked in a concerned voice, "What's wrong?"

The Dark Knight turned to the closest person he considered a friend and said, "The scanner not only located one transmitter, but four more approaching the city."

Superman only took a second to realize what that meant, "They are coming to rescue Robin."

Batman pulled out his grappling gun and shot it off towards another building, he flew off the current roof he was on and called over his shoulder, "We have to find Robin now!" The Man of Steel flew after his friend as a free for-all-race began.

Superman and Batman were racing towards the point where Robin's transmitter was located.

Black Canary and Green Arrow were cheating by tracking the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight.

Lastly, the Young Justice team was flying via Megan's Bio-Ship at top speed to the building located in the Warehouse District of the downtown area of Cleveland that kept their youngest member from them.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

As the race between the heroes continued, the scientists and doctors readied the nanotechnology to be placed into Nobody; the preparations were moving along smoothly and if the software showed no problems, SPYDER would be ready within the hour.

One of the doctors turned to a nurse and she spoke from behind her mask, "Inform the surgical team to begin preparing the patient. SPYDER will be ready shortly," the said orderly nodded and left the room.

With the threat of death hanging over all of the doctors, they did not deter from their assignment and all of them made sure that nothing was going to go wrong. Another doctor's fingers danced over a keypad to pull up files pertaining to the nanites and sighed, "There has only been three tests on the SPYDER…" he commented out loud.

A scientist looked up from her microscope and asked, "How did they fare?"

The first doctor replied in a bone chilling voice, "None of the subjects survived the procedure."

A thick silence swallowed them all as they promptly ignored the lead block feeling in their stomachs and continued preparing the SPYDER for its fourth host.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

A Street can act like an invisible barrier or a large gap. In this case, the street of West 9th street was replicating the Grand Canyon to the Young Justice team, as across from them was their target.

The business, Isenburg and Company, was across the street from them and its five-story brick building gave no sign of the evil it held.

Aqualad and Megan stared at the building for what seemed like eternity until the leader of the team spoke, "We're going in there blind and with two teammates missing. We can't make one mistake," he turned to the female Martian. "Can you try a telepathic sweep of the building?"

Megan nodded and closed her eyes; she froze her body as she attempted to count how many minds resonated to hers. Seconds passed before her eyes opened again.

"There are only a few people in the five-stories." Kid Flash spoke, "So that means that this is an underground base… But how far does it go?"

Kaldur frowned; there were too many unknowns and practically no information about the building. All they had was a tracking device telling them that Robin was somewhere in the building; it didn't give depth.

"Here's what we'll do," stated the Atlantean, he pointed to the two buildings that sandwiched in their target, "We'll get to those roofs and find a way into the building; from there we will search the first five floors for schematics, something that will fill in most of the blanks." He looked to each face of his teammates and added, "Once that is done, there are two objectives: locate and save Robin and the other is to incarcerate Manipulus."

Everyone nodded mutually and their group split up; Megan and Kid Flash took the left emergency stairway that would lead them to ground level. Aqualad and Superboy rushed to the right staircase and ran across the street. Both teams showed agility and stealth as they climbed up more emergency stairways quietly and swiftly.

In no time, they were standing atop of Isenburg and Company with Aqualad smashing open the rusted lock that guarded the roof access door with his channeling weapon. They slipped in and now it was Kid Flash's turn to show off his speed.

Like a blur, he zipped through the fifth floor and in a minute, he returned to his team with a grin that threatened to split his face in half. He gave Kaldur a long rolled up sheet of paper and stated smugly, "I found a map of the building in a Mr. Cain Isenburg's office!"

The team huddled around the map and Megan stated, "This is a new blueprint of the building," she pointed to the bottom right corner and it revealed the new print of the building were from five months ago. It underwent a large renovation

Wally gasped, "Holy crap! The underground levels take up the entire block! How the HELL did he manage that?" he demanded in a hushed voice. Superboy glared at the building map, "Because he used his family's business and money to buy this entire block. With the surface continuing the façade of a bustling city block, he was able to put in his crazy underground maze."

Aqualad was still inspecting the map while his friend stated that valid theory and pointed to a maintenance elevator. "It goes all the way down into the sublevels; that way!" he pointed down the hall and they sprinted down the corridor.

Conner slipped his fingers through the closed door and pried the metal door open. Megan flew into the elevator shaft with Wally levitated by her powers; Kaldur used his water channeling equipment to descend down the hatch with Superboy accompanying him.

They were submerged in darkness with only small emergency lights occasionally appearing on the walls.

Suddenly, Aqualad hissed, "Stop!" they hovered by a dim light that illuminated a big bold number 3.

His light blue eyes were glued to the small device in his hands. "Robin's transmitter is reacting the most to the tracker on this level." He stated and everyone felt the adrenaline in his or her bodies increase production. The mission to get in and find the blueprints of the ex-warehouse was over and now the real mission began.

There was no room for mistake. Kaldur and Conner forced open the door to the sublevel and this allowed the speedster and Martian to enter the freakishly white hallway.

"We're coming, Rob." Whispered Kid Flash and they began cautiously moving deeper into the unknown.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Nobody was transferred to the third sub-floor of the building with the operating team already garbed in scrubs and masks. Nurses were preparing the tools; orderlies were moving the heavy equipment to specific places around the hospital bed that held the patient and finally Manipulus entered the operating room with an excited smile, "Very soon, Nobody will be mine and with this one hero under my influence, I will take back Pandora and just to show the Justice League of how real of a threat I am, I'm going to also imprison the rest of the Young Justice team."

The automatic sliding door opened with a small whisk of air and he turned around to see a doctor carrying the suitcase that held the promising nanotechnology.

"Is it ready?" Manipulus's voice held a ring of excitement and his smile grew as the doctor holding the case nodded.

He walked over to the table designated for the briefcase and opened it to reveal a metal syringe filled with a dark blue liquid in the cylindrical portion of the object. Manipulus moved closer to the door and said, "I'm going to be in the viewing room, make sure nothing goes wrong with this surgery, otherwise I will be very unhappy." He added the last part as an afterthought, which scared the doctors.

No matter how much the lead blocks in their stomachs grew, the team of doctors, scientists and nurses continued preparing their patient for the surgery that would take everything away from him.

Robin, Boy Wonder, was fighting against the darkness surrounding his mind as he felt an impending doom approaching him and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"_Conner… Wally… Kaldur… Megan… please, save me from this nightmare!"_ he begged and he felt the faint lining of a mask on what he assumed was his body's face.

An anesthesia was now starting to course through him and no matter how much he tried, his prison suffocated him and Robin's consciousness fell silent.

The surgery had begun.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

**Chinese Fairy: **Woot! I can't believe it took me so long to update this story, but hopefully it was worth the wait. Also keep in mind that this is just the "rising action" chapter and the next one will be the epic chap.!

I hope you're all as excited as I am!

Ah, I wanted to take this chance to apologize for all the jumping around in this chapter. There were a lot of point of views I wanted to show you all and I'm sorry if the characters seem off.

**NOTE;** In case it wasn't clear enough, Red Arrow was messing with the Justice League to keep them from saving Robin. He wanted the Young Justice team to save Robin; he would've gone as well, but he wanted to watch over Artemis. That may seem out of character, but as I said before, this is fanfiction. I have the right to bend the rules a little.

I hope you all enjoyed this installment and don't worry, I will try and update as soon as possible!

Take care~!


	6. Chapter 6

**Pawns Can Feel Too**

**Chapter 6**

**Chinese Fairy:** (blush… MEGA blush) I am still shocked by how many people like the story. It seems like an awesome dream… (Gapes)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Young Justice" it belongs to Warner Bros. and D.C Comics. . As per last chapter, nothing has changed and I do not now magically own the rights. If you didn't get the memo from the last four chapters and three one-shot stories, nothing has changed!

**Warnings:** Action scenes, slight swearing, and some blood… Not really torture, but things will happen that will outline the "T" warning!

**NOTE: **For those who may wonder why "Robin" and "Nobody" are used to identify the young hero is because he is being viewed by Manipulus and the Young Justice team during said parts. Different points of view, different names; I just wanted to point that out!

Since it is taking me longer and longer to update these chapters, you can all say, "Thank you college homework and class work!" I am… (Grumbles under breath)

Anywho, enjoy~!

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

**Pawns Can Feel Too**

**Chapter 6**

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

The Young Justice had won the race to Isenburg and Company; they had made their way into the lower levels and were now searching through the underground level 3 for their friend.

Batman was soaring over the nightlife of Cleveland via his grappling gun, with Superman flying close to his form. They were closing in on their target and both found themselves hoping they were not too late.

Black Canary and Green Arrow were following the Man of Steel who still had his Justice League transmitter; they were running on the ground level with shadows and broken lamplights donating to their stealth. Soon, the four members will meet up and join together to take down the man who had wronged two protégés of the Dark Knight and the archer of Star City.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

"Doctor, the patient is under." Stated a nurse as she removed the mask from Nobody's face. Another man dressed in medical scrubs nodded and walked over to the gurney. "According to the software, we need to excise the chip from the C-1 vertebra and input the updated model." Dr. Isaac Herring turned to see another nurse hold up a small metal bowl that held their new and improved chip.

Nodding, the middle-aged man then turned to the scientists in the room and continued, "You know how to distribute the nanites, correct?" he received three separate nods, which inclined, "yes". One of the scientists, a pixie-form compared to the other doctors' spoke, "Once you remove the chip and input the new one, we will administer the nanites and Mr. Manipulus will have his new child." _"If he survives the procedure…"_ she added in her mind.

Dr. Herring checked the monitor that informed him of his patient's heart status and saw Nobody reacted well to the anesthesia. "Nurses, please flip the patient over."

Four nurses moved the stand on both sides of the medical bed and gently shifted the teenager onto his stomach; after completing their order, they stepped back. Another nurse approached the patient and applied betadine, an antiseptic, to clean the area. Since the C-1 vertebra was located at the base of the skull, the small tuff of hair in the back was shaved off; this allowed the first implantation to occur.

After thirty seconds passed, she wiped the solution clear from his neck with clean gauze and pulled away entirely. The head doctor now took the few steps left of space between Nobody and himself.

"Nurse, scalpel."

Holding out his right hand, a faceless nurse gave the doctor the tool he requested and the surgery began with him making an incision at the base of the patient's skull.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

"Empty!" cried Wally as he ran out of a room; there were so many doors and none of them had a big sign that read, "Brainwashing in progress!" he cursed under his breath and zoomed to another door.

Conner gave up on finesse when the team reached the third sublevel and began ripping doors from their hinges. Seven bent and distorted doors littered the floor and none of his cracking open rooms proved fruitful.

Megan tried sensing her friend's mind but heaved a heavy sigh from her form, _"He is already under the anesthesia…"_ she flew down the seemingly never ending hallway and landed beside Aqualad, "Has the tracking device been fixed?" she asked tentatively.

The said Atlantean shook his head, "No the moment we entered this floor, it crashed." His eyes landed on a sign by the broken elevator doors that read in bold lettering,

"**NO OUTSIDE ELECTRONICAL DEVICES ALLOWED. CAUTION: THEY WILL SHORT-CIRCUIT."**

"How the Hell can we find him then? These damned doors are lined with LEAD!" shouted Superboy as he allowed anger to course through his veins and he punched in another door; one advantage he thought he would have and this Manipulus went the extra mile to block his x-ray vision!

Wally poked his head into the recently opened room and sighed, "Empty…"

Kid Flash blurred over to Kaldur and Megan as piped in, "Just out of curiosity, but Supes is making a lot of noise; how come no one has come to vacate us from the building?"

Aqualad was about to reply, but rows of six-feet robots caught his gaze as they began marching towards the team. "Because they all walk really slow, Wally." Replied Aqualad and he whipped out his channeling weapons and the water currents ran down his tattoos that acted as pathways. He created two maces.

Miss. Martian was floating by his side with her arms poised towards their enemies. Kid Flash was standing in front of them, waiting to sprint towards the bucket of bolts that stalled them from finding his friend.

Superboy did not engage in the stare down as he charged down the corridor and tackled the first two robots that lead the march. His fists flew towards the heads and with the strength of Superman, Conner crushed in their mechanical skulls.

Wally took a second to imagine Kaldur crying out "charge!" and he ran head on to dismantle a robot. With his speed, the protégé of the Flash took apart three of Mechanical Master's creations in a minute. Their parts strewed across the hallway like marbles.

With her telekinetic abilities, Megan pushed Kaldur towards the enemies and with the force of his movement and the strength of his attack Aqualad crushed the chest plate of a robot in one swing of his maces. The machine malfunctioned and never got up again.

Miss. Martian flew towards the pile up and levitated two robots with her telekinetic powers and concentrating on a point in the middle of machine allowed her to explode the robot from the inside out.

There were still at least forty enemies standing in their way and Robin only had a small window of hope before Manipulus owned him forever.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

A tremor shook the operating room. Which made Dr. Herring stop his movements of pulling out the chip inside of Nobody. The forceps were still in his hand, but they hovered over the incision. Over the loud speaking in the clean room, spoke Manipulus, "It's nothing; continue, Doctor." He ordered.

After a pause to make sure there were no more tremors, the said doctor moved in close and with precise control, he gently removed the old chip that housed "Nobody".

He placed the chip in an offered tray and said behind his surgical mask, "Begin downloading Nobody onto the new chip."

The said nurse walked over to the science team and gave the bowl to one of the scientists. She returned to her place by the heart monitor and waited for another order. The science team that specialized in the SPYDER nanotechnology began the process of moving Nobody's mind to the new chip.

A faceless technician picked up the bloodied piece of technology and transferred it to a small metal plate that was wired into the computer to his right. "It's ready," he stated and the pixie-formed scientist from before typed in several commands into the keyboard and a loading bar appeared on the screen in front of her.

"Five minutes until completion." She announced in the room and from the viewing box above, Manipulus was smiling a smug smirk that proved insanity was brewed in the mind of a sociopath.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

A battle cry ripped itself from Superboy's throat as he swung a large robot into another with his strength; the two crumbled to the floor in a heap that would make junkyards cheer for their parts.

He was lightly panting from the strenuous chore mowing down the robots. Kid Flash had his hands propped on his knees as he took a few seconds to catch his breath. "Bl-Black Canary is a true winner am-among trainers if this counts as a… workout!" he managed out.

Aqualad and Miss. Martian were also hunched over as they tried to calm their fast heart rates. "I agree." Gasped out Megan as she tried moving a few steps forward without becoming dizzy.

Aqualad regained his composure first and his sharp eyes scanned the hallway. Two twin doors with no handles were camouflaged into the eggshell white wall with only a computer embedded into the wall to use as an entry.

"There is our next step!" he shouted and they sprinted down the last 50 feet worth of corridor left between them and the next step to freeing Robin.

Kaldur and Conner both moved to pull the door open, but were shot back by an electrical current running through the door. Their bodies fell to the floor in front of Wally and Megan with loud thuds and groans of protests emitting from their throats.

"What kind of moronic asshole would have a electrical door? No wonder the tracking device blew!" snapped Wally as he cautiously approached the door. His form was two feet away from the entrance when crackling sounds echoed through the immediate area. He unconsciously pulled back, but stopped mid-movement.

"I can do this," he murmured to himself and his form moved into a standard position. His feet were a foot apart and his shoulders were lined up to his feet. A small breath passed his lips as the molecules that constructed his form began to vibrate.

Megan saw this and gasped, "Wally! You haven't mastered this yet! You could get hurt!" she cried, but Aqualad and the Boy of Steel did not move to stop him.

She turned to the two heroes as saw nothing but belief on their expressions; they believe that Wally West will be able to vibrate his molecules through an electrical current and pass through the door that barred them entrance.

Second ticked by before the speedster stepped closer to the door. The electrical charge surrounded him and Miss. Martian clenched her hands into fists. _"Please be careful!"_ she begged in her own mind and after a moment she glanced up to see the current running and dancing around him, but it was causing him any external pain.

Kid Flash wanted to cheer and "whoop" in success, but this was only half of it. Now he stepped closer and closer to the solid wall in front of him. His form began vibrating even faster as the door and he integrated together as one form.

Wally West, or Kid Flash while he was in costume, vanished from the Young Justice teams sight.

A few tense moments passed and when a minute was almost finished Megan spoke up quietly, "Did he make it…?"

The doors slid open to reveal a speedster leaning against the wall. Kid Flash was panting like crazy and his form began heaving. He threw up what little food he had that day. Megan rushed to his side and offered encouraging congratulations to him.

He looked up to her with an award winning smile, "I… I did it!" he cried out loud. Kaldur and Conner walked closer to their friend with smiles on their faces.

"Good job, Wally. The Flash and Black Canary would be so pleased with you." Commented the Atlantean; The speedster wiped away what he thought was a trail of blood from his nose with the back of his hands and of course, there was red blood cells adorning his suit.

"I gotta get over this stupid bloody nose thing!" he cried out dramatically and Megan giggled.

"You can do that later, Speedy Gonzales. Right now we have six doors to chose from." Spoke Superboy and they saw as stated only six doors in this hallway.

One of these doors had Robin behind them.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Manipulus gave a shout of anger as he saw on the camera feed connected to his laptop that the Young Justice team beat his technology. He turned to face the one-way window and screeched through the loud speaker, "How is the download?"

One of the techs handling the new and improved chip turned to the glass window and answered, "The download is complete and the nurse is handing off the chip to Dr. Herring."

A smile appeared on his lips in a bipolar manor; _"There was nothing more to fear…"_

The doctor patiently waited for the nurse to walk over to his side before he picked up a new pair of forceps and picked up the new chip. It was the size of a vitamin, but it was shiny as stainless steel. "Beginning the implantation." Dr. Herring stated before he placed the micro device deep into the muscle of the neck; it almost touched the vertebra.

Manipulus smirked and said over the speaker, "Prepare the nanites; now!" no matter how close he was to winning, he was not going to take any chances.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Megan's eyes began glowing a shimmering white as she concentrated her telekinetic ability's on the door that did not seem to want to open by her turning the knob and yanked it off the hinges. It was another empty operating room.

She turned to see three more doors cracked open and still no Robin. Wally was standing in the middle of the room as he waited for something different to happen. Superboy was in process of tearing apart the fifth door when Aqualad stopped all of them from moving.

"This is the door!" he cried, from the last door on the left side of the room. Wally was at his side in an instant and spoke quickly, "How do you know that this it the room?"

The Atlantean typed in five random numbers into the computer to the right of the door and a monotone voice replied:

"Surgery in progress, access denied."

If that wasn't a sign, then what was? Conner took his place right beside Kaldur as both used their enhanced strength to try their own password override the door.

The doors groaned in protest from their persistent grasp and soon, the metal bent outwards towards the team and they finally found the clean room that held their teammate.

Robin was still unconscious on the table with three nurses around him with Dr. Herring by his side with a surgical needle in his hand and what looked like a bandage in his other.

All four heroes felt the blood leave their faces. Were they too late to save him from the nanites?

Manipulus's voice was heard from that same speaker that seemed to give him a god like position: he could see all, but no one could see him. "Wake up Nobody. I want to test his new chip." He ordered; a nurse stepped in front of the one-way mirror and replied, "B-But sir, we haven't-" she was abruptly cut off.

"JUST DO WHAT YOU'RE TOLD!" screamed the short-tempered employer. She hastily nodded and moved to a table to her left. Aqualad saw this and cried out, "Don't move!" the woman did not listen to him; the fear of her boss was more imposing than the Metahumans.

She quickly injected something into the I.V drip that was connected to the junction where the upper arm met the forearm. Miss. Martian used her ability to yank the item from the woman's hand, but it was already too late; the drug had been injected.

A moment that extended into what seemed like an hour finally passed and the youngest person in the room groggily pushed himself up from his lying position on the gurney. Nobody or Robin had woken up from surgery.

"How is the chip processing the information?" asked Manipulus, his annoying voice was seriously starting to grate on Kid Flash's nerves.

One of the scientists looked down at one of the computer screens in front of him and replied quickly, "It is reacting normally; no abnormalities."

Aqualad stood in between his team and the groups of medical employees. "We have two missions: neutralize Manipulus and save Robin. Team, let's go!" he said in his leader voice and the teenagers were moving.

Kid Flash went looking for the creep that caused all this pain and suffering to his friend and arguing buddy. _"He will NOT get out of this Scott free!"_ he fumed in his mind as he ran up and down the hallways and peeking into every room that could be hiding the man. _"If that mirror above the operating table had any significance, then he's gotta be there!"_ and he ran up a flight of stairs, hoping that **he** found Manipulus before anyone else did.

Nobody attempted to stand on his own two legs, but his jelly like limbs did not obey him and he tumbled to the floor. In an unconscious reflex, Megan flew to his side and tried to help him stand. She let out a startled scream as a scalpel that the brainwashed hero managed to grab from the cart, sliced through her forearm like butter.

Miss. Martian pulled back and hovered next to Kaldur, who had a shocked and pale face. _"We _are_ too late!" _he yelled in his mind. That same hysterical cackle that their most hated foe had echoed through the room as Manipulus took this chance to brag, "Ah, I see my child is doing plenty enough damage for me and I haven't even ordered him to do anything. I guess this proves that Nobody successfully copied over to the new chip."

A chuckled interrupted him before he continued, "You lost, kiddies. Robin is now mine and you all will never have the chance to save him again. You can't save those who do not want to be saved."

Superboy glared at the speakerphone and picked up a metal tray; without waiting for his mind to say "good idea" or "bad idea", he threw it at the item he despised at the moment. Manipulus's laughter was cut off by the piece of technology being decimated by the sheer force of the bowl.

The doctors, nurses and scientists ran out of the room since Nobody was attempting to stand with the bladed object still in his hand. "I have my orders… Master…" he breathed out, which made the three heroes stiffen in their places. _"Manipulus must still have the Mind Link!" _said Megan in their inner "chat room". Aqualad nodded and replied mentally, _"Hopefully Wally will find him before we have to resort to force."_

Conner stepped up closer to his friend and gauged how injured his friend was.

Robin was only wearing thin flannel light blue pants, which made it hard to ignore the pitch-black dots on his friend's upper arms and forearms, which seemed fresh, recent. His chest was also showing off the burns from the defibrillator pads. _"He's been tortured again…"_ he thought and the Boy of Steel had to push down the urge to follow Wally looking for that bastard who did this to his best friend.

Nobody was panting; he felt flushed, tired, weak, and for some reason, his chest felt like someone placed weight onto it. Breathing was such a chore. _"Master Manipulus did not say anything about my body feeling different with the updated chip…"_ reasoned the brainwashed Robin.

"_**That's only because you are stupid enough to think he actually cares about you,"**_ replied another voice deep within he depth of his mind. Nobody paused; _"That was now Sir Manipulus…" _he shook off that voice and turned his attention to the clone in front of him.

"You think you can take me on without hurting this body? I don't think so," he commented and a smirk adorned his lips when Conner began scowling.

"That's why we are here," said a female voice to Nobody's right side; he quickly turned around and saw Megan floating right behind him. He swung his arm that held the scalpel in hand to cut her up, but four hands grabbed at him. One imprisoned his right hand, which held the blade; two wrapped around his waist to immobilize him; and the final hand grasped onto his upper left arm.

Aqualad and Superboy managed to grab the younger teen, who was now struggling to get free. Nobody continued to fight and squirm in hopes to release himself from the heroes, but he could not challenge the strong, yet gentle hold of Kaldur and Conner.

"**BREAK FREE NOW AND TAKE DOWN THESE HEROES! THAT IS AN ORDER!"** shouted Manipulus through the Mind Link and he was given a verbal response, "Yes, sir." The Atlantean or the clone did not hear Manipulus so they were startled when Nobody turned the scalpel onto himself managed to yank his hand free from Kaldur's hold and stabbed the weapon into the thirteen year olds lower torso.

The two Young Justice members pulled back; they knew this trick. Both Pandora and Nobody tried it in Chicago and now Nobody took it to the next step by actually inflicting pain.

Conner was usually more expressive with his aggression, so this made it seem alien that concern was marring his face.

Kaldur stared in shock as the brainwashed body leisurely pulled out the two-inch blade from his side with a sickening smirk on his lips.

Megan gasped and tumbled onto the group to her knees. _"How could he do such a thing?"_ she demanded in her mind and at the same time the said Martian was battling keeping what little food in her stomach from coming up.

Nobody smiled at the brilliant red on the scalpel and turned to face Superboy, "I told you I didn't think you could avoid hurting this body!" M'gann M'orzz forced her body to stand from its place on the ground and flung out her hand towards Nobody, "You will NOT hurt him anymore than you already have!" she cried angrily and with her anger amplifying her telekinetic powers, she easily removed the weapon from his hand.

He stared at her for a moment then chuckled out loud, "You think taking ONE weapon away from me could stop me? You're dead wrong, Red." He replied in a cocky voice.

Megan blinked once in confusion, and then began observing Nobody's movements. _"They are more expressive and over confident than before when we met him… could this have something to do with the nanites?"_ she was puzzled by this and tried to figure it out while Superboy and Aqualad circled the younger hero.

They did not want to get too close; if they did, Nobody would just inflict pain onto Robin. Nobody continued gazing at his enemies with a triumphant smirk, _"I got them! There is no way they can get me now!"_

That same voice from a little while ago came back, _**"I would not bet money on that Nobody,"**_ in the mind of Robin and Nobody's body, came the inner meeting of three people.

Manipulus, who was connected to Nobody via the Mind Link found himself standing in a vast space of emptiness. Nobody found himself in the same position without any answer in his mind. Finally, the third being formed right in front of them: Robin, who was adorned in his rightful hero costume with black and red patterning his body suit and his brilliant yellow painting his cape and utility belt.

His eyes were closed behind his domino mask, but once he opened them, the white of the mask widened. He stared at his enemies for what seemed like eternity before speaking, _**"You both do not comprehend how stupid you truly are."**_ He stated this so simply, that both villains took a moment to comprehend.

Nobody snapped back, _"What the Hell are you talking about?"_ his new personality was growing an attitude problem.

Robin smiled softly at them and continued, _**"You both thought that pain was something bad, so you had the chip cut off all connections to the pain receptors in my body. With the chip located at y C-1 vertebra, you thought my body would just ignore it an continue trucking though the pain, but can you guess how I was able to seemingly break though your Mind Link?"**_

The two other men remained silent, so the Boy Wonder sighed; _**"I guess I'm going to have to spell it out for you… Pain tells the body that something is wrong, which let's the mind react and respond to the pain. That is where I came in. it has always been my body and no matter how much you wanted to believe the chip could keep me at bay, you were terribly wrong.**_

_**"The more pain my body felt, the more I was able to regain control over my body. From the black pool prison you placed me in. the pain made me stay coherent and once I was able to acknowledge my own mind and who I really was, I was able to break through the Mind Link." **_Robin smiled more at them, _**"With your help, I bet you both."**_

He took a few steps towards them and continued, _**"My body has frozen in order not to short circuit while we have this conversation, so that means Superboy and Aqualad have been given the chance to grab me. You both lose."**_

The black space around them shattered like glass and warmth surrounded them; this mind was innocent, and a tint of timid emotions overcame them; _**"Hello, Megan… I missed you," **_whispered the Boy Wonder.

Manipulus and Nobody were shocked out of their minds when the said Martian appeared in the inner mind of Robin. She smiled brilliantly towards him and spoke, _**"I missed you too! I'm so glad I found you so easily. How did you break free from their drugs? Or worse, their nanites?"**_ she asked with uneasiness in her tone.

The thirteen year old smiled again and answered, _**"I never had to nanites placed in me, you all busted through the room before the scientists could implant them."**_

Miss. Martian tapped the palm of her hand to her forehead, _**"Hello Megan! That's why I didn't sense anything different from your body. The only difference was Nobody's personality!"**_

Manipulus saw the scene in front of him and quickly took several steps back, **"I will not be caught like this. I WILL NOT BE CAUGHT!"** he screamed and he left the vast space that Robin set up for them.

Nobody tried to leave the area as well, but Robin commented on that, _**"Just like I could not get free of you, you cannot get free of me…"**_

Nobody looked panicked now as he tried to preserve himself, _"NO! I DON'T WANT TO DISAPPEAR! THIS BODY WAS MINE IT _IS_ MINE! I WON'T GIVE IT BACK!"_ he screeched at them, but it did nothing. Megan turned to look at her friend and spoke, _**"I am going to have to put you to sleep in order to silence him until we get you back to S.T.A.R Labs in New Troy Island."**_

Robin nodded solemnly and responded, _**"Do whatever you have to, to get him out of my mind."**_ She nodded and vanished.

Nobody and Robin stared at each other. Nothing changed in their postures; Nobody was still rigid as he continued begging not to be erased and Robin gazed upon him sadly, _**"I am sorry you will disappear, but this was my body to begin with."**_ The other copy of Robin with the only changes of the colors via the suit nodded pathetically, _"I know, but even though Manipulus treated me like crap, lower than dirt, I was fine with it because I was still _alive_ in the sense of the word."_

The Boy Wonder nodded and response and soon, Nobody and himself felt the pressure of Megan's powers telling them to sleep. _**"I guess this is good bye,"**_ said Robin as he fell to his knees.

Nobody slumped to the floor and lay their waiting to disappear, _"Yeah, good bye Robin. It was great being you for a couple weeks…"_ and both fell into silence.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Superboy caught Robin's small form as he slumped to the ground and Aqualad caught Megan as she fell forward. Both teenagers waited impatiently for their telepath to say something.

"He… He's fine." She gasped out drowsily. Aqualad shifted her into a more comfortable position and she continued, "Robin is safe…" Conner and Kaldur smiled widely at her words and the Boy of Steel's eyes moved over the unconscious form in his arms.

"Welcome back, Robin." He whispered and they turned to leave to room.

Miss. Martian, who was being supported by Aqualad paused and suddenly asked, "Where's Wally?" the other two glance at one another and shook their heads. "He hasn't returned." Stated the Atlantean.

"That's because he is helping Superman incarcerate Manipulus." Replied another person. They all sharply whipped around and all the color in their faces drained again as Batman stood there in the doorway with a deadlier glare than usual.

Megan closed her eyes; she was too exhausted to try and explain their actions now. Glancing at her teammates, she bet they were feeling the same way.

The Dark Knight continued to observe all of their reactions. Aqualad had that same look of "I'm sorry and at the same time, I'm not sorry for disobeying you." Miss. Martian looked like she was about to fall asleep right then and there, but her face showed she was at peace; her mind had returned to his happier state.

Lastly, Superboy was staring at him with those defiant blue eyes, which Dick had called on a regular basis, "too expressive". None of them regret disobeying his orders.

"Get to the Bio-Ship and return to S.T.A.R Labs in New Troy Island," he ordered and the teenagers did not object to that; they ran out of the room without looking back.

Once their echoing footsteps completely vanished from hearing range, the Dark Knight walked closer to the table, where the scientists were preparing SPYDER for transfer into his son's body. He glanced down at all the information and the nanites still ready to be used in the large syringes before pulling out a small pellet and placing it in the middle of the table. Taking a few steps back, he pulled out a detonator and flipped back the safety piece before pressing the red button under his thumb.

The items on the table combusted and now there was a fire enveloping everything connected to SPYDER. "No one will ever be killed by this device again," he murmured and he disappeared down the opposite hallway that Kid Flash ran down.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Manipulus saw the speedster leave his team, but he did not move from his comfortable spot on his couch as he watched Nobody attempt to fight off the Young Justice and in return their attempts to find Robin in that body.

He chuckled and placed the Mind Link on his head, _"Now is the time to test Nobody in his new chip… After this little setback, I will have to implant the nanites before another hero comes barging in here."_

His form relaxed and concentrating, the villain was able to stay in a stronger connection to his child.

Things began unwinding once Robin showed up in the mind of his body and once he showed his control returning, Manipulus quickly yanked off the Mind Link and moved to leave the room; his confidence long gone. "I have to get out of here!" he whispered harshly to himself as he tried to leave, but a lithe form was blocking the doorway.

"I don't think you're going anywhere… At least, not anywhere on your top five list of 'Places to escape the Young Justice League'." Stated Kid Flash as he coolly leaned against the door panel.

Manipulus's face expressed a blank reaction before he chuckled, "You think you can beat me? All you do is go fast," he pointed out in a cocky tone. Wally stood up from his spot against the door and replied, "You're right, all I do is _go_ fast," he disappeared in a red and yellow blur and a second later he returned to his place by the door with the Mind Link in his hands.

"But personally, I think that enough." He finished his statement before crushing the thin headband with his hands. Manipulus attempted and fumbled to yank out a gun in his jacket pocket, but he couldn't remove the weapon.

Kid Flash saw this and blurred into nothingness before reappearing again by the door with a gun in his right hand. "I always thought of guns as something dangerous…" he commented airily as he felt the weight of the gun in his hand.

"Did you know that scientific studies show that knives and sharp objects scare people more so than guns? The scientists who do these tests add that people see the knife and imagine a fate worse than being shot… Have you ever been shot?"

That question chilled Manipulus, but Wally continued, "My friend, Bart, got shot in the patella… That's the kneecap. He said it hurt so much and I wished there was some way I could have helped him… I never felt so helpless," he paused and uttered softly, "until now." He now stared up at the man in front of him with anger rippling in his eyes.

"You kidnapped my friends; you brainwashed them; you made them commit crimes; you made them attack us; and then you tried to permanently take them from me, from my team…"

He brought up his arm to point the gun at Manipulus, and seethed out, "I never thought I could feel SUCH HELPLESSNESS! You made me feel utterly worthless since I couldn't do ANYTHING to save my friends!" his arm was trembling either from the inexperience or from the weight of the gun, neither knew, but from this distance Wally would have to purposely try and neglect his target in order to miss.

Manipulus was shaking like a leaf barely hanging onto a branch on a windy day. "D-Don't do this, p-please!" he begged; his eyes began to water and sobs began rippling through his body.

Wally tried not to pay attention to the pathetic groveling in front of him and asked in an icy voice, "Did you even give my friend the chance to beg while you tortured them?" Manipulus looked confused.

"You have the opportunity to beg for your life, but you did not give my friends even the slightest chance to. You took everything from them," he attempted to click the hammer back, with the thumb fumbling twice before the click was heard. "I know this is not what we as heroes do, but a part of me, most of me cannot forgive you, what you did to them was monstrous."

The speedster, who was willing to throw everything he worked to achieve away for the revenge of his friends, was stopped by a large hand covering the junction in between the hammer and the opening that allowed the hammer to fire off the bullet. Kid Flash looked up to see Superman staring back at him with eyes not filled with disappointment, but understanding.

The Justice League member remained silent for a moment before speaking, "I understand how much you want him to pay for his crimes, but we both know that Artemis and Robin would not want you to this. Not for them and not to yourself."

Gently, Superman took away the gun from Wally's shaking hands and placed a hand upon his shoulder, "Go join your team. I heard from Batman that they are on their way to the Bio-Ship." The speedster numbly nodded before disappearing down the corridor that lead him to this room.

The Man of Steel waited until Wally was gone before turning to face Manipulus, who was now huddled in a ball on the floor; he was a wreck.

Superman gazed at him indifferently, "You will now stand trial for kidnapping charges, breaking and entering, theft, torture, and murder."

Manipulus looked up at him tentatively and asked weakly, "Wh… What murder…?" The Man of Steel opened his mouth to reply, but his best friend, the Dark Knight beat him to it. Batman walked into the room at the perfect time to begin his story.

"You always tell everyone about a sob story about thirteen months ago your mother dying of a failed heart valve, but if anyone actually looked at her after death, she died because of an overdose. Her son was in charge of tending to her medicines and you, Cain Isenburg, killed her for the family business and money." His glaring white eyes were trained on the criminal.

"You could not deal with the fact you killed your mother so you denied it and took on this pathetic crusade in her name." finished Batman and Cain Isenburg paused his shaking to listen intently to the news before his mind snapped.

"No… no! NO! I did not-I WOULD NEVER DO THAT!" his screams echoed through the building and the Dark Knight had to sedate him in order for Superman to handcuff him. Once the threat was completely subdued, the Man of Steel turned to his friend, "You broke him mentally, he will not be competent to stand trial," he said softly.

The Dark Knight nodded and replied in his monotone voice, "That is to make sure I do not betray everything we have built in order to kill him. I broke him in order for me to move on. Robin would not want me to tarnish myself for him just as he would not want Kid Flash to dip his hands in blood."

Superman nodded and smiled softly, "Thank you Batman. When Robin comes to, I know he will say the same thing."

They both glanced at the man on the floor and the Man of Steel picked him up with one hand. They left the room, never looking back.

As the walked down the hallway, the two heroes caught sight of Black Canary and Green Arrow. Green Arrow was glaring at the subdued Manipulus and spoke, "I guess it was a good thing I went with Dinah… I would not have had the self control to not turn him into a pin cushion." He said softly.

Dinah Lance placed a hand on her friend's shoulder and whispered, "Artemis will appreciate the fact that you did not kill for her."

He nodded and the four heroes walked the rest of the path out of the hellhole that should be destroyed on principal.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Aqualad glance at Superboy, who still held the unconscious Robin in his arms and then glance back outside; Wally had not shown up yet. "Maybe we should go look for him," offered Megan from her seat in the pilot's chair.

Kaldur shook his head, "No, we can't leave the ship now. If we do and he appears, then the same scene will unfold." Suddenly, Kid Flash was in his seat and putting his safety harness was being strapped on.

"Sorry I'm late. I had a little trouble with Manipulus." He whispered; The Atlantean turned to him with a raised eyebrow. Wally saw this and added, "Don't worry, Superman has him. Our mission is complete!"

The four Young Justice teammates all let out heavy sigh that was held in since this nightmare began two weeks ago and Miss. Martian moved her ship to take off.

Artemis was being tended to, Robin was not permanently taken from them via the SPYDER nanotechnology and now they were on their way back to New Troy Island in order to save Robin from Nobody.

She smiled, _"The storm is passing and I think I see a beautiful future…"_ Megan thought as her ship ripped through the night that swallowed the East Coast whole until the sun returned.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

**Chinese Fairy:** GYAAAAAAAA! (falls down dead) I finally got it finished! I did it! DANG this was a hard chapter to write, but I hope that everyone enjoys it!

Incase anyone is wondering who is Bart, that is Bart Allen, the second Kid Flash and the fourth hero to join the Flash family. In Teen Titans vol. 1, Deathstroke or Slade, shot him in the kneecap and my god, it was hella crazy! Anywho, slight cameo-ish…

I hope you all enjoyed and the next chapter may be the last one if I can wrap everything up by then! Please review and give feedback, I truly appreciate that and it makes me feel like people do enjoy my stories. A lot of people favorite and alert my stories, but that does not help me make better stories. Come on, guys… Thanks for reading and I'll see you all later!

Take care! (Goes and passes out)


	7. Chapter 7

**Pawns Can Feel Too**

**Chapter 7**

**Chinese Fairy:** … This is the last chapter… My goodness. This is the LAST chapter! I want to be sad, but at the same time, I am glad that Robin and Artemis can finally rejoin their team without trying to kick each others asses!

I want to thank everyone who has reviewed this story and who has put up with all my madness.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Young Justice" it belongs to Warner Bros. and D.C Comics. . As per last chapter, nothing has changed and I do not now magically own the rights. If you didn't get the memo from the last four chapters and three one-shot stories, nothing has changed!

**Warnings:** Fluff, cotton candy fluff, friendship, family fluff, and all the colors of the fluffy rainbow.

**Chinese Fairy:** If you are still reading my notes, then get to the end of the page (After reading the story) and check out the new idea for the next story I have planned!

GET GOING ONTO THE FIC BEILIEVE ME I AM NOT THAT INTERESTING!

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

**Pawns Can Feel Too**

**Chapter 7**

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

"Cain Isenburg, you stand in front this closed court to stand trial. The charges against you are murder, kidnapping, torture, robbery, and attempted murder; however, due to your mental state, you will be sentenced to Graham Bergain Institute for the Criminally Insane until your rehabilitation, where you will be held accountable for your crimes against humanity."

The judge presiding over the courtroom banged the gavel upon its wooden resting place and that was it; Manipulus, now identified as Cain Isenburg, was going to be locked up for the rest of his life.

As his comatose body was dragged out by the court officers and the room was filing out with people, no one seemed to even notice that Bruce Wayne had slipped into the courtroom to see for himself that the monster that hurt his son would never hurt anyone again.

Standing from his place, Bruce walked out of the partially empty room and stepped outside into a great hall of the Cleveland Municipal Courts Tower, where Manipulus was just tried. He allowed a heavy sigh to be released from his form as he gently closed his eyes for a moment.

"It's finally over," spoke a voice from behind him. Bruce did not turn to face Clark Kent when he replied, "Almost, Robin and Artemis have been in the medical induced coma for a month now and the doctors at S.T.A.R Labs are not sure when they can pull them from it." He shoulders sagged and Bruce added quietly, "I'm not sure if it is over yet, Clark."

He said those words so softly, that Clark had to strain to hear him.

The citizen who dressed as Superman stepped closer to his best friend and replied, "They will wake up soon; you'll see." He began walking towards the exit, but Clark paused and gently tugged for Bruce to follow. The said billionaire allowed his inward "auto pilot" to take over and he walked through the hallway with his friend and supporter by his side.

_"I've been waiting to see them wake up since they both arrived at New Troy Island."_ He thought mentally, but never spoke his concern out loud.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

It has been one month since Robin and Artemis had been rescued from Manipulus and everyone in the Young Justice League thought that after a few day of recuperating and removing the chips from their necks, the two heroes would wake up and greet them all, but nothing like that has happened.

Artemis, who arrived at the S.T.A.R Labs in Metropolis first, was being treated for long term poisoning that Manipulus had been injecting into her.

_When the unconscious archer came to the lab, the doctors found a high level of mercury in her system. Green Arrow was the first the speak, "What do you mean he was poisoning her?" he demanded from Dr. William Langs._

_The said doctor removed his silver rimmed glasses from his face and replied, "It is just as I said, for some odd reason, that mad man saw it fit to inject small doses of mercury into her system and since she had been under his poison for a little over two weeks, she needs more time to clear out her system. I suggest we put her in a medical induced coma for now and allow her body complete rest."_

_Oliver Queen stormed away from the doctor who was just doing his job in order to make sure his fist did not collide with the man's nose._

After the doctors removed the chips from the back of the teenager's necks, the head of the anesthesiology department went about placing the archer and the Boy Wonder in their induced comas.

_Batman stared indifferently as the female doctor in front of him listed all of the injuries Robin had on his body._

"_The stab wound to his lower torso nicked his large intestine, but do not worry, we have patched it up. The burns on his chest may prove permanent since they were not properly treated when he was tortured. The electro shock therapy that Mr. Isenburg used on him also damaged the nervous system. At the main points of where we found the black burn marks on his arms and legs, the jolts sent too much information for the brain to handle, so there may be some permanent damage."_

_The Dark Knight continued listening to all of the information with Superman by his side. If the Kryptonian knew any better, he could see his best friend unwinding at the seams._

_"Similar to Ms. Artemis, we will place Robin in a medical induced coma to allow his body to recover."_

After the doctors tended to the chips located in the C-1 vertebra and the teenagers were placed in their comas, the Justice League moved the two back to Mount Justice.

"_The hospital is not a place for them to recover in, Batman. Why not let them return to the mountain where they can rest peacefully away from the world?" Damn Superman and his borderline blackmail._

Artemis and Robin were moved to Mount Justice where they were now resting in the medical wing. While the League made sure that the two heroes were tended to medically, the Young Justice League made sure that their friends were tended to in a more heartfelt manor.

Wally and Megan went about fixing up the clean room that was going to hold Artemis with green sheets; fresh flowers; and several "get well soon" cards littering a table that acted as her nightstand.

Kaldur and Conner made sure to ready the room that Robin would be using and did something similar for their youngest brother. Aqualad placed several mystery novels by the chair that Red Tornado placed in their friend room's for him. The Atlantean would spend time reading to Robin; making sure he stayed in the "favorites" range of the sleeping Boy Wonder. Conner would sit and talk about anything or nothing to Robin; he would spend hours just sitting in the same chair that Kaldur used when he read to their youngest and the clone would just make sure his best friend heard his voice.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

It has been one month since Robin and Artemis had been rescued from Manipulus.

There has been no change in their friends and neither hero has woken up from their comas.

Superboy was lying on his bed, restless and agitated; he glanced at the digital clock that was on his nightstand by the head of his bed and sighed. Those neon green numbers showed that it was 4:38 in the morning and sleep was eluding him again.

Conner got out of bed and slipped on his traditional black shirt with the red "S" on his chest and kept on his black sweatpants. He walked out into the empty hallway where dim lights lined the floor in order for someone to see where they were walking in the darkened hallways.

Superboy traversed the corridors and hallways; pretending that he had no destination in mind when all the while he was thinking of what new topic he could bring to his slumbering friend. After ten minutes of walking through the mountain, Conner found himself at his true destination: the medical wing.

He entered the egg-shell white painted replication of a hospital wing and continued moving towards the room marked: "Clean room Number 4". He took in a small breath and pushed the automatic door button on the right side of the doorway. His eyes scanned the same room he often found himself in for the last month and saw how many Justice League members sent Robin cards.

Black Canary, Red Tornado, Superman, Green Arrow, the Flash, the Green Lanterns, Hawkman and Hawkgirl, Captain Marvel, Martian Manhunter, Red Arrow, Aquaman, Aqualad, Megan, Kid Flash, another from a "Red Hood", and a homemade card that screamed "made by a 5-year-old". A lot of cards surrounded the small glass of water on the nightstand, but Conner stopped reading the names.

He took his seat that was place on the left hand side of the bed close to Robin's hand. The clone of Superman sat there in the seat forever; he wanted to talk, but he did not know what to say. _"Just start babbling,"_ he scolded himself and Conner opened his mouth to speak.

"Robin," he began, "Everyone misses you and Artemis… we all miss our archer and our hacker. Do you know how quiet it has been in the mountain since you are not giggling in the hallways and Artemis has not been bickering with Wally?" he cut off for a minute before continuing.

"Batman told me that that Bastard, Manipulus has been locked away and that he will never get out. You should be happy we got the asshole that hurt you both. I thought he deserved more of a painful punishment, but then Bats said something really important, 'The Leagues, both them and us, must work and strive to be better than other people. We do not kill or take lives. This is what makes up better then all those people we fight'. He said those few words to me and it seemed like all the anger I had in me vanished." A sad smile formed on his lips.

"We are better than all the bad guys we go against, but Robin, do you know how hard it is seeing you and Artemis still like _this,_" he motioned towards the sleeping teen, "when all of us want you back; awake and yourself."

Conner picked up Robin's hand that was not tucked under the sheets and placed the open palm against his cheek. "You are my best friend, Robin and you have no idea how much I need you to talk back to me. We all need you and Artemis back with us." He paused as he felt those same water drops flow from his eyes; Conner placed a fingertip on his cheek and pulled his hand back enough to see what was leaking.

"This is the second time this has happened, Robin and I still don't understand why." He continued; the tears began slowly, then as Conner's too blue eyes continued staring at Robin's slumbering face, the more frequently the tears flowed. The clone of Superman chuckled without humor in his voice.

"When you wake up, I want you to tell me why this is happening." Demanded Conner with a bitter smile on his lips. _"I feel like I would give anything in the world to make sure you woke up healthy…"_

Conner felt his form hunch over onto the bed as his forehead touched down on top of the placid hand that was connected to Robin's form as he continued crying.

"… Ause you… mis… me…" mumbled a hoarse voice. Conner's head snapped up immediately and he saw half lidded, cloudy blue eyes staring back at him.

It took Superboy a moment to put two and two together before a large smile appeared on his lips. "Robin…?" he questioned quietly. The Boy Wonder ignored Conner's shocked demeanor and attempted to repeat what he said, "It… I-is because… you… m-miss… ed me." Robin's voice was cracking and weak due to the fact he has not used his voice in a month, but that was a miniscule thing compared to that fact that his best friend was awake.

Conner jumped out of his seat and felt a million and one thoughts run through his head. _"Should he call everyone else? Should he press the alarm button? That may get the others here faster… Wait, Robin…"_ he glanced back down to his friend who was attempting to reach out towards the glass of water.

The older hero blushed at his mini freak out and picked up the glass to fill it with water. He quickly returned to his friend's side and offered the birdie the drink with a straw poking out.

"Drink small sips," ordered Conner and the younger teen did as he was told. Small sips seemed to be compared to drinking in an ocean for Robin, but the cool water soothed his sore and parched throat. After a few more sips, Conner pulled the cup away and the birdie nodded in thanks.

"I'm going to inform Red Tornado that you have woken up…" he stated awkwardly and the clone disappeared from his bedside. Robin stared at the retreating back for a few moments before his eyes danced over the clean room. The several cards on the table caught his eyes and a sad smile appeared on his lips. _"How long have I been asleep?"_

In an instant, Superboy was back at his side; "Red Tornado is informing the League and waking up the others." He said without looking at Robin. This confused the younger hero since Conner was not acting like he didn't just spilled his metaphorical guts out just a few minutes ago.

Robin glanced down to his friend's hand resting on the edge of the bed and pulled it into his. "I…" his haggard voice began; he paused to swallow the dry lump in his throat and continued, "I am… sorry, C-Conner…"

This was not expected. The said hero's expression morphed from confused, to lost, to anger in a few seconds. "Why are you apologizing?" growled the clone, but Robin knew that Conner was not really angry with him.

"B-Be… cause, I… I could not bring myself… t-to go back with you a… and Kaldur… in Chi-Chicago…" the smaller hands that surrounded Conner's squeezed their hold slightly in order to show physically how contrite he was.

Conner did not know what to say or how to express his misdirected anger and bit out, "You are a hero, Robin! You do not have to explain yourself to me. What you did caught the psycho that kidnapped you and Artemis, so why are you saying your sorry?"

Robin fumbled out his sheets that kept him warm and tried to move closer to his friend. His body was nearing to edge when his form lost momentary control and his was falling forward. In an instant, Superboy had caught him; growling, Conner held his friend close and sat on the bed. The Boy Wonder snuggled into his friend's comforting warmth and replied to Conner's previous question.

"A-As a hero… I did w-what was as… asked of me, b-but as a friend… I-I saw how much I had hurt… y-you and Kaldur…"

Superboy violently shook his head, "Forget it, you are back with us; you're awake and nothing is going to take you from us again."

"ROBIN!" cried an exuberant speedster from the door; the two heroes turned to see Wally, Megan, Kaldur and Red Tornado standing in the doorway.

Megan had tears rolling down her face and a smile on her lips, "R-Robin, you're awake!" she stated with sobs interrupting her words. The said teen nodded and the Fastest Boy Alive and Miss. Martian rushed to his sides to hold him.

Superboy pulled away from them and moved back to stand next to Aqualad. "I thank you for telling him those words, Conner." Spoke the Atlantean.

The said clone looked to his friend before a smile graced his lips. "I am too, Kaldur."

They stared at the scene in front of them as Megan continued crying her happy tears and Robin took it upon himself to comfort her. Wally just kept hugging his friend to make sure that this was not just a cruel joke from his mind.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Batman was patrolling his home, Gotham City, when he received the call from Red Tornado.

"Robin is awake." There was noting more to say. The Dark Knight abandoned his place atop of a skyscraper and disappeared from the rooftops.

The Batmobile was parked in an alley, hidden from sight, but when he turned on the engine and sped off towards the waterways, he might as well had a large neon sign over his car that said, "I'm right here."

He paid that thought no mind as he drove the Batmobile into the large waterway hidden under his city. The line would take him to the outskirts of Gotham where he could safely drive into the Batcave without anyone ever noticing. Glancing down at the speedometer, he smirked as he saw the needle pointing at, "156" miles per hour.

Batman took a sharp turn that made the tires squeal as he zoomed out of the underground section and onto an abandoned road, which lead to the false mountain. It opened, sensing the Batmobile, and he continued with his high-speed car zipping through the tunnel.

When the Dark Knight arrived at the turnabout in his cave, he already saw Alfred standing there with his traditionally cup of coffee balanced on a tray. Batman removed his cowl and Bruce Wayne jumped out of his customized car.

"Master Bruce, I received a call from a Mr. Red Tornado and he said that Master Dick has woken up." Stated the surrogate father to the multibillionaire/vigilante.

Bruce nodded and typed into the supercomputer to start up the system. "Yeah, I'm going to the mountain right now." The two men watched as the machine came to life and the large, circular transportation device began glowing with a light hue of blue and white.

"Can I come too, Papa…?" Alfred and Bruce both turned to see Tim Wayne standing by the foot of the stairway in his pajamas. The vigilante walked over to his son in four strides and picked him up.

"You know that you coming with me may inform some of the League who I am and who Robin really is." He spoke gently, no one outside of this cave who ever have thought Bruce could sound so endearing. Tim nodded and replied with a weak voice, "I-I know, but I want to see my brother." The five-year-old tried to bite back the tears, but they began cascading like waterfalls.

Bruce sighed; there was no way in hell he could say no to his youngest since Tim has gone through an entire month and two weeks of not seeing his brother.

"Alright," spoke his father and not the Dark Knight. Tim's eyes shown with brilliance that Alfred thought lost and the two moved closer to the transportation device. The said man gently placed his son down and moved over to the computer; he began typing something in and a few minutes later he walked back to where Tim was waiting for him.

"We will be back soon, Alfred." Said Bruce as he slipped back on his cowl. The said British man nodded once, "Very good, Master Bruce." Was his reply.

The same female voice spoke from the teleportation device in her monotone voice, "Recognizing Batman 02, Robin III B07." Tim turned to his father with a look of surprise and the said man smile. "That will be your title one day." Commented the Dark Knight and no one would ever believe Tim if he said the Batman smiled warmly at him.

The both disappeared from the Batcave and rematerialized in the core of Mount Justice.

Tim smiled as his form solidified and he jumped around in amazement at his new surrounding.

"Robin III B07, huh?" asked someone from Tim's right. The said child turned to see the Man of Steel himself staring down at him with a welcoming smile. The five-year-old nodded and replied simply, "Yes, I'm going to become the Robin soon." The confident statement made Superman's smile grow.

"That is not going to happen until you're older, Tim." Said the Dark Knight as he moved closer to the two. "How is he?" he asked.

Superman nodded and they began walking down a corridor with Tim following after them.

"The readings show that he is weak, but fine. A little sore and his muscles are frail, but after a couple months of physical therapy and eating some real food, he should be fine." Stated the hero who protected Metropolis and the three individuals made it to the medical wing.

It was easy for Tim to identify which room held his brother and rushed over to the slightly filled room.

When he passed through the doorway and he saw his brother awake, Tim felt the tears brimming in his eyes. "Ro-Robin!" he cried.

The said hero on the bed quickly turned to see his younger brother sanding in the doorway and he gaped, "Tim…?" he asked in a bizarre tone. The said five-year-old rushed to his brother's side and jumped onto the bed, making sure at the same time he did not harm Robin.

Wally blinked at the random child and asked, "Who is this?" last time he checked there were no kids running around the mountain.

Tim pulled away from his hug and replied, "I am the third Robin. Nice to meet you." Everyone in the room was now officially confused at this strange child, but Robin, that is Dick Grayson, found himself laughing at his younger brother's blunt statements.

Robin pulled Tim close and whispered in his ear, "I missed you, Timmy." The smaller boy returned the hug and answered back, "I missed you too, Dick."

They pulled back from one another and a large form at the doorway stopped their moment; Robin saw Batman standing in the doorway. Everyone else saw this and Aqualad spoke up. "Come on everyone, let's give them a moment."

Megan floated out of the room, Wally ran out, Conner lingered for a moment before walking out as well. Red tornado had left five minutes ago, so now the only inhabitants in the room were part of the Bat Family.

Tim was still nestled in his brother's hold when Batman walked in and shut the automatic door closed behind him.

"Hey," spoke Robin. Tim removed the domino mask that hid his brother's eyes and placed the slightly larger mask on his own face.

Batman stepped closer to the bed and nodded in response. Dick glanced down at the covers on his bed and tried to speak first before his mentor did. "I… I was wondering if we got Manipulus, I think… Superboy s-said something about it, but I'm not s-sure…" he said; Batman looked up to meet his son's blue eyes.

This was a subject that was easy to talk about, "Yes," replied the hero, "He has been tried and placed in an Institute for the Criminally Insane." Dick nodded as well. "Okay," whispered the teenager.

The awkward atmosphere was growing more and more until Tim could not take it anymore. "Papa, Dick… You guys both know that not talking is driving you both mad. Please say something, Papa." Encouraged the five-year-old and another incredible phenomenon occurred that night: Tim Wayne had more power over the two heroes than anyone ever realized.

Batman finally was standing beside his son's bed when he removed his cowl and Bruce Wayne spoke. "I am so relieved that you came back to us, Dick. It has been an entire month and we were wondering why it took so long for you to come back." He placed a gauntlet-covered hand upon Dick's shoulder as he continued.

"Those two weeks were hard on all of us; I actually broke away from allowing the Young Justice League to find you and went searching for you myself." A smile grew on his lips. "Your friend, Red Arrow saw right through the League and made sure none of us found you first."

Dick gaped at this information and turned to the card from Roy Harper. He smiled, "Good old Speedy… I-I mean, Red Arrow." He commented.

The father of the two carried on speaking, "When we found you, you had been through Hell and back. From the torture…" he broke off momentarily; Tim saw this and reached out for the other hand of Bruce. The man gave his son his hand and the youth pulled him closer to his children. "And the brainwashing chips… you had been through a lot and all I wanted was so angry with myself for allowing this to happen to you."

Dick stopped his father from speaking. "Don't," he begged softly. Bruce nodded numbly and his teenage son continued, "I do not like where this may be leading… You sound like you are thinking of removing me from the team," Dick's voice, which was hoarse and weak just from an hour and a half ago, was defying medical facts, as his voice grew strong.

"This is where I belong, with you, my friends, and where heroes come together. I belong here and not matter how angry you were with yourself, you should not have been. Manipulus dictated all of our actions and thoughts, but that is not who we are. I am not a brainwashed teenager who steals and hurts his friends. You are not the one who should burden yourself with misplaced guilt. Let's move on and not forget that this happened, but view it as a lesson we all needed to learn."

Silence returned to the room, but Tim smiled, _"This silence is different from the one we had before this talk."_ He thought and he turned to look at his father. Bruce looked like he was contemplating his son's words for several minutes before he pulled both Tim and Dick close for a hug.

"What did I do to deserve you both?" he questioned quietly. Tim hugged both his family members back with such passion while Dick held them both as hard as his weak body allowed. "Simple, you saved us…"

His reply echoed in their minds as they continued their family moment.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

Wally West moved out of the hallway and into Artemis's room. In there was Green Arrow and Red Arrow standing or sitting on both sides of her bed. Neither man spoke or even glanced at Wally as he walked into the room.

He knew what they were thinking, _"If Robin woke up, why not you?"_ that thought rippled on their faces.

"Can I talk to her for a little bit?" he spoke. The Arrow Clan glanced down at Oliver's hand, which was holding Artemis's, and they nodded. "Sure," spoke Roy and the men vacated the room.

Kid Flash moved to sit in the same chair that held Green Arrow and he took a hold of Artemis's hand. "Come on, Artemis… You have more fight than this in you. Why aren't you awake yet? Robin woke up, so why not you?"

A heavy sigh escaped his form. "I've been waiting beside your bed for a long time and nothing seems to be changing. Sure, your health has improved and I should be thankful for that, but what about your mind? You have to wake up, Artemis…"

He stood from his seat and sat closer to his arguing buddy; he settled on the edge of the bed and he pulled her limp form into a hug. "Please," he begged with his throat parched the same way a person's throat dries up before they begin crying.

"Please wake up, Conner was talking to Robin when he woke up, so please… Do the same for me!" he cried weakly against her neck as the tears he was fighting for so long, finally fell from his green eyes.

Sobs shook his form, as Artemis did not speak. He was too engrossed on the fact that she did not respond, that he missed the hand the gently rapped at the back of his head. Wally immediately pulled back and saw that no one else was in the room.

His gaze fell back onto Artemis's face, which displayed her eyes that were shrouded in fatigue and sleep. "If… I-I come back… C-Can I still see this, this nice side of K-Kid Mouth… again?" she spoke weakly.

Wally let out a mix between a laugh and a sob as he pulled her close again. "Yeah," he replied happily. "Only if I can see a docile Artemis ever once and a while."

She pushed her arms to encircle him as well; "I'm back… W-Wally." She whispered and they nodded happily.

"Welcome back, Artemis."

Green Arrow and Red Arrow were standing by the open door as they looked upon the scene in front of them. "I guess we are both going to have to give both of them _the talk_, huh Ollie?" asked Roy.

His mentor and father figure nodded, "Oh, yes. Very soon." Was his answer.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

For the month that Robin and Artemis were asleep, the mountain had lost a lot of its spark. No one attempted to try and lighten the mood since it seemed more fitting.

The early morning that granted everyone's wish of seeing their friends awake echoed through the halls of Mount Justice and like someone waking up Sleeping Beauty from her slumber, the sanctum that provided shelter for the Young Justice League came to life again.

Laughter rang through the halls like bells; warmth began seeping its way through the rooms; and the sparks of exuberant life returned to the eyes of the six teenage heroes.

The first three weeks were given to testing to water. Robin and Artemis were allowed to walk around the base and the beach outside. They six of them usually walked in a group and they were having conversations that were not just "skin deep".

The ordeal with Manipulus broke down any barriers that were holding back the team and reunited them.

Kaldur'ahm spoke of his love for his home; Wally whined about how crazy his Aunt Iris could be; Megan chirped about how much she cared for her Uncle J'onn; Conner told everyone about the less awkward meetings he had with Superman and how they were _kinda_ getting along now.

Artemis spoke of her mother and how she was doing what her mother wanted.

Robin brought up how lucky he was to have such a great family and wonderful friends. This in itself seemed like something they all already knew, but for the Boy Wonder to talk about the subject highlighted how much he cared for everyone.

The weeks to follow were painful since Artemis and Robin both had to undergo physical therapy to regain muscle strength and agility that they lost while their bodies rested. The two proved stubborn and determined as they exceeded Black Canary's scheduled workouts and they put as much effort to bounce back as quick as possible.

Artemis displayed a fast comeback while practicing her archer; she showed that archery was like riding a bike. She had had the training sewn into her limbs that when she shot her first arrow at the training dummy, it hit.

Robin's agility was shown as he and Superboy trained. He fluttered around the room evading and dodging the heavy blows directed at him with his acrobatic back flips and jumps.

The League was impressed of how quickly the two recovered.

Black Canary clapped her hands together as training ending on twentieth day of training. "That's enough for today Artemis and Robin." She ordered and the six members stopped their sparing.

She turned to the two non-Metahumans and said, "You know that both of you have regained your strength faster than estimated. You are two weeks ahead of the regimen." Artemis, who was taking a big gulp of water from her canteen, swallowed the mouthful of water and grinned, "Well yeah. We have to."

This made an eyebrow on Dinah's face rise. "You have to?" she echoed.

Robin who was using a towel to wipe away the sweat from his brow answered the repeated term. "Yeah, as the teams two non-Metahumans we have an ability that shows up every time we need it to. It is something that everyone has, but ours is stronger," the other four members turned to him with knowing smiles on their faces.

"We never give up and we never let something as small as mind control keep us from who we are."

Black Canary smiled at his words and nodded, "I guess so; that is a great ability."

The Young Justice League was almost back to 100%.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

"You all have something akin to a mission today; it is something that all of you will attend and you all will behave in front of the people hosting this affair."

These words confused the six members of the Young Justice Team thoroughly. Batman ignored their confused looks as he typed in a place that was located on the map of the United States. It zoomed in to Kansas and this made everyone's curiosity reach its peak.

"Your destination is Smallville, Kansas and the mission will commence as soon as you all are ready." Batman turned off the super computer and turned to Robin. "I placed the coordinates into your portable computer, so just input it into the Bio-Ship."

The Dark Knight shut off the monitor screen and exited the room without another word.

"Do any of you know what is in Kansas?" questioned Aqualad as the team began that short walk from the briefing room to the docking bay.

Artemis and Wally glanced at each other then replied simultaneously, "Twisters."

Megan shrugged and Robin glanced at the latitude and longitude. "I do not remember any kind of plant of base there… So why are we going there?"

Everyone had that mutual question, but did as the Dark Knight ordered them. Megan brought her Bio-Ship to life and everyone boarded the vessel.

The red ship took off and flew off towards their mission destination; they did not notice that the Batjet zoomed right past them without the sensors noticing.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

A normal plane takes about two hours and 47 minutes to arrive in Kansas from Rhode Island, but as always, M'gann M'orzz Bio-Ship had them touching down in a corn field of Smallville.

She picked the field since it was close to their target and no one would go looking in the crops unless they lost something. She camouflaged her ship and its brilliant red paint job vanished. Aqualad lead the team through the cornfield with everyone keeping an eye on his or her surroundings.

Kid Flash removed his goggles from his eyes since the afternoon sun was disappearing at the horizon point.

"Seriously, what is out here in the middle of nowhere?" he questioned; Artemis glanced at the ripe corn and replied, "Well, it is part of the agricultural section of the United States…" Wally turned to her and smirked, "Are you learning this in school?"

He teased; she grinned back and replied, "I found this out in the fourth grade, genius."

Aqualad and Superboy stopped walking; these actions made the rest of the team freeze. "What is it?" asked Megan quietly as she moved closer to stand by the Atlantean. Conner strained his super hearing and he thought he heard the chattering only heard in parties.

"It sounds like a large group of people are in front of us…" he stated to his team. They nodded at his words and Aqualad motioned for everyone to continue walking, "When we reach the end of the field we can determine if they are the targets and what our next move will be."

Artemis and Kid Flash were the first ones to reach the thinning out of the crops; Robin and Superboy tentatively poked their heads out from the walls of corn and Aqualad and Megan was a couple steps behind the others.

"What the….?" Robin's voice faded since his entire mind just fell into shock.

Artemis, Aqualad, Megan and Wally poked their heads out as well and saw something they never thought they would ever see.

Members of the Justice League were all brought together for a… party. There was a twenty feet gap between the Young Justice League and the adults that served the world.

A woman who was not dressed as a hero walked up to their hiding placed and spoke, "Dears, you can come out from there. Clark heard you all coming a few minutes back." The teenagers blushed and walked out into the open area.

She smiled and continued, "I am Martha Kent, Clark's mother. Pleased to meet you all." She offered her hand out and Aqualad took it the greeting gesture. "The pleasure is ours, ma'am."

Martha shook her head, "My dear, there is only one rule I have here and that is everyone call me 'Ma'. Do you understand?" the Atlantean nodded quickly and her smile brightened.

"Very good, now come. Everyone was waiting for you all to show up." She began walking back towards the group of heroes and the team was left in her wake confused and partially freaked.

"What's going on?" hissed Wally from his place behind Artemis.

"We are all celebrating the recovery of Artemis and Robin," stated a voice from the left of them.

The six teenagers all turned to see Superman, Batman, the Flash, Aquaman, Green Arrow, and Martian Manhunter standing there.

Superman stepped closer to the teens and continued, "You all displayed above admiral actions in the past two months and thought that something like this was in order."

Conner stepped closer to his father figure, and spoke, "So this isn't some kiddy party?" the Man of Steel smiled and shook his head, "No, it is just all of this coming together for your team."

Wally, Artemis, and Megan glanced at one another then grins crossed their lips. "Come on then!" cried the teenage speedster and he rushed off while his hold on Artemis's hand did not release.

"Slow down, Speedy Gonzales!" protested the female archer. His only reply was a burst of warm laughter.

Megan and her uncle walked towards the festivities and began conversing with Ma Kent.

The rest of the group dissipated from their place by the cornfield along with Aqualad accompanying his king to where a Jonathan Kent was talking about his prized fields; oddly enough, Tim Wayne also known as the Third Robin was already there.

Superman, Superboy, Batman, and Robin lingered a bit so the Man of Steel could speak to the youngest hero. "I wanted to personally thank you for helping us capture Manipulus… It was not something I wanted to happen, but it did and I just wanted to say… thanks, Robin."

The said Young Justice teammate nodded with a grinning face and moved to join the party that was in his honor.

Batman glanced at Conner and then to Clark. He nodded once then followed his son towards the lighted area.

The two super men stood awkwardly together for what seemed like forever; finally after two minutes passed in real time, Superman spoke, "I also wanted to use this opportunity to give you something."

Conner glanced down and saw a manila in his "father's" hands. Superman offered the folder to Superboy and the said teen opened it.

"Conner Kent, cousin of Clark Kent… Lives in Smallville, Kansas with this grand parents Martha and Jonathan Kent…" his voice faded off and his shocked expression lifted from the paper to Clarks smiling face.

"Batman told me that you always said that Mount Justice was your home and how everyone else had another place to call home… so I talked to Ma and Pa and they said this could be the place you come to when you need to get away from the mountain."

Conner's gaze moved from the information to Clark's face. "I-I don't know what to say…" he murmured.

Clark stepped forward and added, "There was this and then one more thing," He placed his hand on top of Superboy's shoulder and said, "My Kryptonian name is Kal-El and I am part of the House of El. With me as your… Father… I bestow upon you the name Kon-El; another son of Krypton."

Conner was now officially shocked. "I… I get a Kryptonian name… as well?" he asked quietly.

Clark nodded and turned his gaze to the sky; this "son" did the same and they both looked up towards the endless starry sky. "You and I are survivors of Krypton and as a Kryptonian, you should have a name that displays your ties to our planet."

Superboy nodded and smiled, "Thank you… for everything…" he said.

Superman replied just was kindly, "Thank you for saving my friend from a life of guilt and hardships." They glanced over to Batman who was amused while he was holding Tim; the child was investigating a plate of cake.

They both smiled and their private "father and son" moment was put on hold when Robin came bounding towards them, "Come on guys, join the party!" he grabbed one hand of each super hero and tugged them towards the celebration.

This was a good first mission to come back with. The Young Justice League was now complete again with the entire team now fighting together to prove to everyone that they were heroes, friends, and no longer sidekicks.

_**YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ**_

**Chinese Fairy: **Woot! They are now back together and yay! Robin and Artemis woke up! Please excuse any grammatical errors please! I do not have a Beta yet and I can only catch so many mistakes. I'm sorry and thank you for your understanding.

I would like to thank everyone who had read this story and reviewed favored or anything else fanfiction(dot)net allows you to do! You have all been so kind to me! Also, as stated before I have a new idea for a story with our heroes it's something like this:

**NEXT STORY IDEA: **The six heroes of the Young Justice League find themselves in an unknown place and each one is given a letter telling them that they were kidnapped and now have to work together to get out of the situation alive. There is just one catch: all of the Metahumans on the team d not have their powers at the time. They will now know what Artemis and Robin go through everyday being normal and having no abilities.

What do you think? Of course there will be more to come with the posting of the story, I just wanted to give a "trailer" of sorts.

Thank you once again and take care!


End file.
